The tests were carried out under the guidance of an independent vehicle expert with specialist vehicle-engineering knowledge, the company says.

From September 1 to April 30, all used vehicles shipped to New Zealand are required to be heat treated in addition to current biosecurity decontamination and inspection requirements.

This follows the recently released the new import health standard (IHS) for vehicles, machinery and equipment by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

“We are pleased to report that, under the prescribed heat-treatment chamber conditions, there are no concerns about the safety of batteries under the heat-treatment process,” says Neil Lay Yee, general manager at Jacanna.

“This means we will accept orders for electric and hybrid vehicles [such as Nissan’s Leaf, pictured], as well as standard passenger vehicles.

“As the temperature will exceed 60°C depending on the points of the vehicle, there’s a possibility that damage could occur to a car – for example, batteries, paint, plastic parts, wiring and so on. We cannot accept any claims against any damages caused by heat treatment.”

He says ATJ can accept vehicles up to two metres in height for heat treatment and is planning to accept those over two metres from October. An announcement will be made when this service is available.

With September 1 rapidly approaching, Jacanna warns there will be operational procedures and logistics to work through, which will result in significantly increased time per vehicle to meet the MPI’s new requirements meaning there could be some delays in shipping vehicles.

When possible, bookings should be made on a priority basis to ensure the most important stock is processed first.

“We remain committed to working with all customers and MPI officials to make the transition from no heat treatment to a 100 per cent heat-treatment requirement as smooth as possible.”