The safety of thousands of road users is being put at risk due to
the government’s failure to properly enforce strict laws on the
labelling of tyres, Unite, the UK’s largest union, has warned.
In 2009 the European Union introduced regulations
(1222/2009) which required all tyres for passenger, light
commercial and heavy commercial vehicles to carry labels which
recorded their fuel efficiency, grip in wet conditions and noise
levels. The regulations came into effect on 1 November...Request free trial
The safety of thousands of road users is being put at risk due to
the government’s failure to properly enforce strict laws on the
labelling of tyres, Unite, the UK’s largest union, has warned.
In 2009 the European Union introduced regulations (1222/2009)
which required all tyres for passenger, light commercial and heavy
commercial vehicles to carry labels which recorded their fuel
efficiency, grip in wet conditions and noise levels. The
regulations came into effect on 1 November 2012 and are not being
enforced according to Unite.
In recent years the British tyre market has been swamped with
inferior but cheap tyres made in Asia. The tyres also include the
EU labels but there have been no official inspections of whether
the labels on these tyres actually comply with the EU
regulations.
Following a Freedom of Information request made by Unite it
has been revealed that the reason for the lack of enforcement is
because the necessary secondary legislation was not
passed.
The FOI response from the Department for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy (BEIS) which oversaw the Office for Product
Safety and Standards (which was the agency responsible for
upholding the regulations and which has now been abolished)
said: “Between February 2013 to April 2017, there
was no UK Statutory Instrument in place and therefore no statutory
powers to inspect retail premises or take actions regarding
non-compliance.”
Since April 2017 the responsibility for complying with the
regulations lies with the Department of Transport but there remains
no evidence that the relevant legislation has been passed or that
inspections are being undertaken.
As well as the safety concerns and environmental issues the
inferior Asian tyres are also threatening the jobs of British
workers employed in the tyre industry, as the companies which are
properly following the regulations are unable to compete on
price.
Unite has now launched its ’Steer Well Clear’ campaign which
will seek to force the government to take action to end inferior
Asian tyres being dumped on the UK market.
Unite national officer for rubber Tony Devlin
said: “The government’s failure to introduce
simple legislation is potentially placing thousands of lives at
risk.
“The failure by the government to ensure that the
EU regulations are being complied with is placing drivers in
danger, has serious environmental consequences and is endangering
the jobs of British workers, employed by companies that are playing
by the rules.
“Customers buying tyres will be alarmed that the
official looking labels on some of the products could be virtually
meaningless.
“The government needs to immediately act to
introduce proper inspections and enforcement of the existing
regulations and then adopt workable measures to ensure that
inferior Asian tyres are no longer allowed to flood into the
UK.”
Unite’s convenor at the Michelin factory in Stoke Robert
Taylor, said: “This government’s incompetence is
staggering. Workers fear losing their jobs, yet the government
couldn’t even be bothered to introduce inspections to ensure that
imported tyres comply with EU regulations.”
