Right-hand drive is not a matter of moving the steering wheel. Most right-hand-drive markets refuse to register a converted vehicle, and a conversion done abroad does not get plates either. These markets cluster around the Commonwealth and Japanese supply sources: admission first, the car second.
The core of the right-hand-drive business is admission, not conversion: first confirm the destination registers factory right-hand-drive vehicles only, then work out age and the certification route, and only then talk about stock and price.
✓Kenya, Tanzania
Right-hand drive is a hard requirement, the route is clear, and cars shipped from China to Tanzania can be inspected at home
!Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa
Permits and type approval come first, used-car quotas are tight — get the permit before sourcing
!English-speaking Caribbean
Duties and unit prices are calculable, but sailings are thin, lots are small and payment is slow
×Converted vehicles
Most right-hand-drive markets will not register a converted car
Seven markets, seven rulebooks
| Market | Drive side | Age and admission | Certification route |
|---|
| East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda) | Right | Kenya: 8 years or less from first registration; Tanzania: no age cap, 15% added for 8–10 years, 30% beyond 10 | Kenya: PVoC on arrival (no agent in China); Tanzania: CCIC inspection before shipment |
| Southern Africa (Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique) | Right | South Africa needs an ITAC permit and rarely grants one for used cars; the other three set their own age and duty bands | South Africa: NRCS authorisation; the others: standards-bureau certificate |
| Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore) | Right | Malaysia: AP plus JPJ inspection; Singapore: LTA thresholds; Thailand and Indonesia closed to complete used vehicles | Type approval first, emissions test after |
| South Asia (Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal) | Right | Sri Lanka reopened in phases only in 2025; Pakistan opens only transfer-of-residence and gift schemes | Pre-shipment inspection plus central-bank approval |
| Hong Kong, China; Macao, China | Right | Hong Kong: Transport Department examination, no age cap; Macao: import licence plus DSAT inspection | Transport Department examination; DSAT in Macao |
| Taiwan, China | Left | Drives on the right, so not on the right-hand-drive map | Type safety approval plus trade permit |
| English-speaking Caribbean (Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana) | Right | Jamaica taxes by age band; Trinidad and Guyana set limits by year of manufacture | Pre-shipment inspection plus duty |
The easiest row to misread is Taiwan, China: it drives on the right and is left-hand drive, so it is not on the same line as Hong Kong and Macao.
Same car, two routes
Kenya and Tanzania sit side by side with opposite rules. Kenya's used-vehicle PVoC agents cover only Japan, the UAE, the UK, Singapore, Thailand and South Africa — China is not on the list. A car shipped from China cannot obtain an exporting-country CoR, so it goes to inspection on arrival, and it must travel with an Interpol clearance, a deregistration certificate from the previous country of registration and the export documents of the country of origin. Tanzania is different: used vehicles from mainland China are inspected by CCIC before shipment and the certificate is issued at home. One car, one budget — one route gambles at the port, the other is settled before the vessel sails.
Four checks before booking
1Confirm drive side and age
In markets that register factory right-hand drive only, age runs from first registration
2Confirm the certification route
Pre-shipment or on-arrival inspection, and whether China is on the agent list
3Confirm the sailing and the port
Right-hand-drive markets are small ports, often two sailings a month — find the vessel first
4Confirm payment and documents
In on-arrival inspection markets, hold the balance until the inspection passes, not until sailing
Five common traps
- ✓Converting the drive side — registration stops it cold
- ✓Counting age by model year — Kenya counts from the year of first registration
- ✓Assuming a CoC is enough — Kenya wants a CoR for used cars
- ✓Treating a domestic test report as a pass — the destination does not recognise it
- ✓Paying the balance at sailing — if inspection fails, the cargo sits in their port
Drive side, age and certification rules are enforced by each national authority and do change. This reflects checks made on 5 November 2026; have the destination broker confirm the vehicle before booking.
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