The Customs Department has fixed the maximum age of imported second-hand cars, light vehicles and buses at five years, heavy trucks at 10 years and antique cars at 30 years. The department stressed in a statement here that the decision had been taken after a lengthy and thorough study by the Ministries of Interior, Commerce, and Industry and Transportation and by the Saudi Arabian Specifications and Standards Organization. It said the ministerial committee had resorted to these measures to minimize the harmful effects of aging vehicles on the environment, SPA said. Added to this is their negative impact on traffic safety due to their nonconformity with Saudi specifications. Owing to this, the statement said, most of the world's countries fix the age of imported second-hand cars besides importing only those models registered by the ministry of commerce in those countries. The statement mentioned that the Kingdom imported 140,444 cars in 2008 whose age was more than five years with a value in excess of SR17.5 billion representing 24 percent of the total second-hand cars imported during the same year compared to 104,157 cars of the same age imported in 2007 with a value of SR13 billion. __