Tyres Europe calls for simpler digital tyre labelling rules

Following the publication of the European Commission’s Omnibus on Energy Labelling, Tyres Europe has called for “a more consistent approach” to simplification in the proposed amendments to the tyre labelling framework.

The proposal includes measures to reduce certain administrative steps, such as digitising the labels, establishing a technical link between EPREL and the Digital Product Passport registry, and enabling the EPREL database to automatically generate label images.

However, after a first assessment of the package, Tyres Europe said other elements risk moving in the opposite direction. Proposals to provide additional empowerment for delegated acts, which could enable rescaling of the label, will create “new regulatory uncertainties and technical impediments”, it said.

Similarly, Tyres Europe said the proposals to expand the Product Information Sheet (PIS), introducing the nested labels and expansion of EPREL database requirements, risk adding “administrative complexity” for manufacturers and the wider tyre supply chain, “without clear evidence that they would improve consumer choices”.

Finally, it called on the Omnibus to include “clear and consistent amendments” that ensure the digitalisation of the tyre label.

According to the Commission’s own report, only 39 per cent of surveyed consumers recalled seeing the tyre label while shopping, down from 50 per cent in 2017.

The same report found that only five per cent of consumers were aware of or had consulted the EPREL database when purchasing tyres.

Independent findings, including the Lizeo Report on the Evolution of the Tyre Label, also indicate that the label has had a limited impact in shifting consumer demand towards higher-performing tyres.

Adam McCarthy, Tyres Europe secretary general, said: “The priority should be to make the existing tyre label better understood and used by consumers, not to add new layers of complexity that risk creating costs without changing purchasing behaviour. A simplification package should simplify.”