Jurisdiction: UK

Commencement: 1st February 2021 

Amends: The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986
Mini Summary
The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 aim to ensure that vehicles are made to high standards, to ensure that such standards are maintained while in use and that they are roadworthy. The Regulations state that it is an offence to use a road vehicle if it is emitting smoke, visible vapour, grit, sparks, ashes, cinders or oily substances in such a way as is likely to cause damage to property or injure any person.
Amendment
The 1986 Regulations are amended to ban the use of tyres aged 10-years and older on the front axles of certain vehicles, such as heavy goods vehicles, buses and coaches.

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Jurisdiction: EU

Commencement: 1 August 2020

Amends: 

1. Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 setting a framework for energy labelling and repealing Directive 2010/30/EU 
2. European Union (Labelling of Tyres) (Fuel Efficiency) Regulations 2012 

Revokes / Repeals: Regulation (EC) No 1222/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 on the labelling of tyres with respect to fuel efficiency and other essential parameters 
Summary
These Regulations set out a framework that applies to tyres placed on the market. To enable customers to make informed decisions about their purchase, information relating to safety, fuel-efficiency, longevity and noise levels must be provided on a label attached to the tyre.   

Tyre labels are to be formatted in accordance with Annex II and include the following information: 

• Fuel efficiency class; 
• Wet grip class; 
• External rolling noise classes 
• If the tyre is snow grip certified; and 
• If the tyre is ice grip certified. 

These Regulations apply to C1 tyres (tyres for cars), C2 tyres (tyres for vans) and C3 tyres (tyres for heavy duty vehicles) The Regulations place duties on suppliers and distributers of the above mentioned tyre types.  

These Regulations do not apply to: 

• Off-road professional tyres; 
• Tyres designed to be used by vehicles registered for the first time before 1st  October 1990; 
• Temporary‐use spare tyres (T-type tyres); 
• Tyres with a speed rating of less than 80 km/h; 
• Tyres with a nominal rim diameter of 254mm or less and 535 mm or more; 
• Tyres with additional devices to improve traction such as studded tyres;  
• Tyres designed to be fitted exclusively on cars used only for racing; and 
• Second-hand tyres (unless imported from outside of the EU)   

Duties

Obligations on tyre suppliers 

Suppliers* of C1, C2 and C3 tyres must ensure, free of charge, that: 

• a tyre label, formatted in accordance with Annex II and containing the information outlined in Annex I accompanies each individual tyre or batch of tyres sold;  
• when tyres are offered for distance sale** the tyre label is displayed close to the displayed price.   
• an advertisement for a specific tyre is accompanied by the tyre label, which should be placed near the price, if possible (online advertisements may provide the label in a nested display); 
• any promotional material concerning a specific tyre type displays the tyre label clearly; and  
• they submit the values used to determine the information found in Annex I to a relevant national authority.*** 

*A supplier is defined as: 

• The manufacturer, when established in the EU;  
• The authorised representative of a manufacturer, when based outside of the EU; or 
• The importer who places a product on the EU market. 

**Distance sales are the hire or sale of goods where the customer cannot be expected to physically see the goods displayed and includes: 

• mail order; 
• catalogue; 
• internet; and 
• telemarketing. 

***A relevant national authority is an approval authority or other authority involved in and responsible for market surveillance, border control or registration in a Member State with respect to vehicles, systems, components, separate technical units, parts or equipment. 

From 1st May 2021 suppliers must submit the information in Annex VII into the product database before placing a new tyre on the market.  

Obligations of tyre distributors  

Distributors must ensure that: 

• a tyre label formatted in accordance with Annex II and containing the information outlined in Annex I accompanies each individual/batch of tyres sold; 
• any advertisement for a specific tyre displays the tyre label, near the price if possible (online advertisements may provide the label in a nested display); 
• when selling a tyre that is not visible to the customer at the time of sale they provide the customer with a copy of the tyre label before the sale; and 
• distance sales inform the customer of the information on the tyre label before the sale and the customer can access the product information sheet online. 

Obligations of vehicle suppliers and distributors 

When selling a new vehicle to a customer the supplier/distributor must provide the customer with the tyre label for the tyres that come with the vehicle. There is also an obligation to provide the customer with any relevant technical promotional material and to ensure that the product information sheet is available.

 
Amendments
1) Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 setting a framework for energy labelling and repealing Directive 2010/30/EU  

An amendment is made to include Regulation (EU) 2020/740  on the labelling of tyres with respect to fuel efficiency and other parameters, amending Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1222/2009 (’2020 regulations’) into article 12 to ensure the product database continues to serve its intended purpose by expanding its scope to include the 2020 Regulations.

2) European Union (Labelling of Tyres) (Fuel Efficiency) Regulations 2012 

These amendments repeal and replace EU Regulation 1222/2009 on the labelling of tyres with respect to fuel efficiency and other essential parameters (‘Regulation 1222/2009’) with effect from 1st May 2021.

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