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UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Gulf States to face controls on tyre storage
Imports like this will be banned in the UAE
Companies such as Standard Retreads will have to meet even higher requirements
66 Retreading Business
Safety Norms for Tyres to be Tightened in UAE
managed and maintained. Companies as usual will need to acquire the GSO certification, but an additional UAE Standard ISO 9001 certification will be required before importing the tyres," Badri said.
Giving details of the specifications, Abdullah Abdul
Qader Al Muaini, Director of Conformity Affairs at ESMA, said that companies will have to conform to additional specifications and regulations when it comes to manufacturing and have to obtain conformity
certifications
from
accredited
laboratories
before
importing each
batch of tyres.
An important
regulation is
that the total
lifespan of
each tyre is
restricted to
five years from
the date of
manufacture. Any tyre that is five years old, whether used or unused would be disposed of.
Importance of storage
Apart from manufacturing, the new law gives equal importance to storage.
Badri warned that trade licences would not be renewed for companies that do not comply with the new specification.
The authority has imposed a blanket ban on the import of retreaded and used tyres, but these can be exported.
ESMA has approved 25 companies to retread used tyres, provided they adhere to its strict specifications. One of the chief requirements is that only those tyres with no damage to the main structure would be allowed to be retreaded. Retreaded tyres will have a life span of two years from the date of manufacture. These tyres will have a yellow patch. The law covers all tyres, except those for industrial vehicles.
ESMA insists that all manufacturers as well as the World Trade Organisation have been informed of the new specifications well in
advance of the effective date.
Monitoring
All stores will have to withdraw tyres that do not comply with the new specifications, come September.
The authority has devised a mechanism to monitor the implementation of the scheme right from the first stage to disposal and recycling of
tyres.
"We are in talks with international consultants and we will soon hire the best in the industry to assist us monitor the implementation of our quality control scheme," said Badri.
Mohammad Reza, who runs an auto workshop in Sharjah's industrial area. Another trader, Ali Hyderi, who has been in the business for 15years, said: "We sell first quality used tyres, which are not more than a year old. A lot of people buy these tyres before annual vehicle tests."
Come September 2012, the resale and reuse of old tyres will be banned in the UAE, as the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology's (ESMA) new tyre quality management scheme comes into effect across the UAE.
The new ‘birth to death' scheme, provides quality control specifications right from the stage of manufacturing to disposal of tyres.
Among the highlights of the new system is the requirement of additional certification for manufacturers, a complete ban on sale of used tyres as well as restrictions on the re-treading and repair of tyres. Proper storage and disposal of tyres is also a priority.
"It is a central scheme in which we have tried to control the quality of tyres at every level, right from the manufacturing and storing to repair and disposal.
"At ESMA we are trying to control the quality of products on priority basis and quality of tyres is currently one of the top priorities for us as so many lives depend on a good and well maintained tyre," said Engineer Mohammad Saleh Badri, Acting Director General of ESMA, announcing the new scheme in Dubai.
He added that a large number of accidents are due to faulty tyres or tyres that don't meet the standards required for the weather in the region. With the new scheme this issue will be addressed.
"A tyre once used for a car cannot be used for another car, no matter how good its condition is. Even if it is used for only one day or one month, it is not allowed to be resold," said Badri. Currently, imported tyres comply with GCC specifications which require manufacturers and distributors to have a Gulf Standardisation Organisation (GSO) conformity certification.
However, Badri said GSO requirements are inadequate for the safety of vehicles on roads as it only looks into manufacturing aspects. "Our idea is to have a complete makeover in the way tyres are
Waste of resources
Understandably, people trading in used tyres and workshop owners are not happy with the new law.
"It is not fair to ban all used tyres as some motorists buy new cars and change the wheels and tyres immediately to suit their style requirements.
"With this new law, these tyres are to be disposed of, which is a waste of resources and money," said
Key elements impacting upon repairing and retreading:
• Maintenance:
1. Tyres once used for a car should not be used for another.
2. Used tyres are not allowed to be sold at all, except for export.
3. Workshops should use approved tools to repair tyres.
• Re-treading and disposal:
1. Import of re-treaded tyres is banned.
2. Twenty-five companies are allowed to retread tyres.
3. Only tyres with perfect main casings will be allowed to be re- treaded.
4. All used tyres should be sent for recycling to approved agencies.
5. Local governments will make sure tyres are disposed of properly and assign expert agencies to recycle tyres locally.