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PURPOSE: to increase the safety
and the economic and environmental efficiency of road transport by promoting
fuel-efficient and safe tyres with low noise levels. LEGISLATIVE ACT:Regulation (EC) No 1222/2009 of the European Parliament
and of the Council on the labelling of tyres with respect to fuel efficiency
and other essential parameters. CONTENT: the Council adopted a regulation on the
labelling of tyres with respect to fuel efficiency and other essential
parameters. This regulation is in line with the revised
Commission strategy on CO2 emissions from passenger cars and light
commercial vehicles, which sets a CO2 target to be achieved through reductions
in car emissions, including the promotion of fuel-efficient tyres. The regulation establishes a framework for the
provision of harmonised information on tyre parameters, such as rolling
resistance, wet grip and external rolling noise, thus allowing consumers to
make an informed choice when purchasing tyres, since a label on tyres will be
displayed at the point of sale, as well as in technical promotional material.Tyres, mainly because of their rolling
resistance, account for 20 % to 30 % of the fuel consumption of vehicles.A reduction of the rolling resistance of tyres may
therefore contribute significantly to the energy efficiency of road transport
and thus to the reduction of emissions. Directed at the demand side, this regulation on tyre
labelling will complement the type-approval legislation on tyres which
addresses the supply side by means of minimum requirements. The minimum
requirements governing rolling resistance, wet grip and external rolling
noise laid down in Regulation
(EC) No 661/2009 on the general safety of motor vehicles will guarantee a
standard level of tyre quality, while further improvements beyond these levels
will be driven by the tyre labelling scheme. This regulation shall apply to C1, C2 and C3 tyres.
Its main provisions are as follows: Display of
the label: suppliers shall ensure that C1 and C2
tyres, which are delivered to distributors or end-users, are: (a) equipped
with a sticker on the tyre tread displaying a label indicating the fuel
efficiency class, the external rolling noise class and measured value
and, where applicable, the wet grip class, or (b) for each batch of one or
more identical tyres delivered, accompanied by a label in printed format
indicating the fuel efficiency class, the external rolling noise class and
measured value and, where applicable, the wet grip class. The format of the
sticker and the label shall be as prescribed in Annex II. Suppliers
shall state the fuel efficiency class, the external rolling noise class and
measured value and, where applicable, the wet grip class, of C1, C2 and C3
tyres in technical promotional material, including on their websites,
as set out in Annex I, in the order specified in Annex III. Responsibilities
of vehicle suppliers: where end users are offered
a choice at the point of sale between different tyres to be fitted on a new
vehicle which they are intending to acquire, vehicle suppliers and distributors
shall, before the sale, provide them with information, for each of the tyres
offered. This information shall be included at least in the technical
promotional material. Harmonised
testing methods: the information to be provided
under this regulation on the fuel efficiency class, the external rolling
noise class and measured value, and the wet grip class of tyres shall be
obtained by applying the harmonised testing methods referred to in Annex I of
the regulation. Internal
market: where the requirements of this
Regulation are complied with, Member States shall neither prohibit nor
restrict the making available on the market of the tyres on grounds of
product information. Unless they have evidence to the contrary, Member States
shall consider that labels and product information comply with this
Regulation. Market
surveillance: a reference to Regulation (EC) No
765/2008 on market surveillance is introduced in the regulation as suggested
in the Commission amended proposal in response to the Parliament's request
for reinforced market surveillance rules. Review: the Commission shall assess the need to review this Regulation,
taking into account, inter alia: (a) the effectiveness of the label in terms
of end-user awareness; (b) whether the labelling scheme should be extended to
include retreaded tyres; (c) whether new tyre parameters, such as mileage,
should be introduced; (d) the information on tyre parameters provided by
vehicle suppliers and distributors to end-users. The Commission shall present
the result of this assessment to the European Parliament and the Council no
later than 1 March 2016, and, if appropriate, submit proposals to the
European Parliament and to the Council. Transitional
provision: Parliament and Council agreed to
exempt tyres produced before July 2012 from the labelling requirements. Promotion
of low noise tyres (annex II): a classification
of external rolling noise is added on the label in order to facilitate easy
recognition of low noise tyres, in addition to the display of the external
rolling noise measured value in decibels. ENTRY INTO
FORCE: 11/01/2010. APPLICATION:
from 01/11/2012.
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