ETRMA to meet CRIA on 26 October

By David Shaw, ERJ staff

Brussels -- Representatives of the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers' Association (ETRMA) will meet their counterparts from the China Rubber Industry Association (CRIA) on 26 October.

The meeting aims to inform Chinese tyre makers about the legislative environment for tyres in Europe and the penalties for those who break current and pending legal requirements.

Francesco Gori, chairman of the ETRMA told ERJ that the meeting came out of ETRMA contacts with tyre makers around tthe world and said there are several issues the CRIA wants to discuss, among them is the forthcoming tyre labelling scheme for Europe, due to come into effect from October 2012.

Other issues on the table, said Gori, will be REACH legislation, which specifically bans labelled oils from use in tyres from 1 January this year. Gori said initial results showed that some tyres made after that date and being sold in Europe still contain illegal oils.

Gori said part of the dialogue will be to coordinate sales and manufacturing statistics, with the aim of creating a global data set relating to tyre manufacture.