Surveillance and sustainability top priorities for ETRMA in 2013

The board of the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) has agreed that market surveillance should be the number one priority of the work of the organisation. The next priority of the board, which meets twice a year, emphasises that environmental as well as social and economic sustainability should remain a focus of the European tyre and rubber industry.

Patrick Lepercq (Michelin), president of ETRMA, said: “The labelling regulation which comes into force on 1 November is a game changer for our industry as it sets a new benchmark for competition. Essential for the success of the new regulation is effective market surveillance. A lack of strong enforcement would damage the label’s credibility in the eye of the consumer, as well as the competitiveness of manufacturers who play by the rules and have invested into compliance. It is therefore essential that national market surveillance authorities put in place their respective control activities, with the outstanding support of the European Commission which has started to organize regular meetings of the Market Surveillance Authorities for benchmark purposes”.

The importance of continuous efforts towards sustainability of the tyre and rubber industry was also underlined by the board. “This long term objective applies to the whole of our industry” said Fazilet Cinaralp, secretary general of ETRMA, adding: “Fair access to and safe use of raw materials, high performances of our products and environmentally sound treatment of end of life products remain key elements of our industry’s long term objectives”.

“The European legislator envisaged for the tyre industry to follow a truly integrated approach where both strict and ambitious environmental and safety rules are to be met. Our sector should therefore be allowed to first concentrate on current legislation, and on delivering in the existing timelines, before it is asked to focus on new targets”, continued Cinaralp. “Also it is important that any further regulation does not hinder the efforts of the industry, which has not yet fully recovered from the crisis ”.

The association described economic recovery a “slow” and said that 2013 is anticipated to be another difficult year for the tyre and rubber industries. 

The current ETRMA tyre corporate members are: Apollo Vredestein, Bridgestone Europe, Cooper Tires, Continental, Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe, Hankook, Marangoni, Michelin, Mitas, Nokian Tyres, Pirelli and Trelleborg Wheel Systems. Together with the general rubber goods manufacturers also represented by the association the industry provides direct employment for more than 374,000 people in the EU and supports another 800,000 jobs in related sectors. ETRMA members’ turnover in 2011 is estimated at 47 billion euros, of which up to 5 per cent is invested in research and development annually.