Italy: Retreading Quote for Public Fleets

A new Finance Act that was passed at the end of December by the Italian Parliament provides that public bodies and the managers of public services will have to reserve at least 20 per cent to retreads in their orders of spare tyres for their fleets of passenger cars as well as commercial and industrial vehicles. The Italian retreading association, AIRP, representing a large concentration of machinery manufacturers and more than 100 specialised retreading companies, sees “interesting prospects” for their industry and underlines that the retreaders must now operate in compliance with EEC-UN Regulations 108 and 109 providing for retreads the same strict tests to be carried out as for the approval of new tyres..