China's tire exports must first pass environmental protection

Samples of unqualified tires for sampling PAHs in the European Union were all produced in China. On March 1st, the EU Tire Manufacturers Association issued an announcement and announced the results of spot checks on PAHs content in the EU market. 11% of the sampled tires The samples did not meet the requirements of Article 50 of Annex XVII of EU Regulations on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals of the European Union (EU) of Chemical Substances, and the unqualified samples were produced in China.

The EU Tire Manufacturers Association stated that the sample purchases 110 tires (45 tires produced after January 1, 2010) in 45 different brands from the three major EU member states, involving 92 companies from 16 countries ( Producers in 9 EU countries and 7 non-EU countries. PAHs were tested on sample tires according to the ISO 21461 standard. The test was divided into two phases. The first phase of the ETRMA was the initial test. The second phase commissioned an independent third-party testing agency in the EU to carry out a retest. As a result, it was found that the tires of the 9 EU countries and 6 non-EU countries that had been spotted met the requirements of the REACH regulation, and only the Chinese-made tires had exceeded the standard, involving major Chinese tire manufacturers. ETRMA called on the EU and its member countries to increase inspections and supervision, and punished companies that violated the regulations in accordance with EU law. It also recommended that EU tire importers, distributors and retailers carry out REACH requests to suppliers. Subsequently, the British Environmental Agency issued an announcement to strengthen the supervision of domestic tires.

The actions of the EU's official associations and associations indicate that the EU tire market will face the most stringent supervision since the implementation of the REACH regulations, and the Chinese tires that have been identified will bear the brunt of it. From another point of view, the strong momentum of China's tire exports has caused the EU's great concern. The REACH regulation is the technical trade barrier that the European Union controls Chinese tires entering the market. Before, due to the strong performance of Chinese tires in the U.S. market, which led to the “tire special protection case”, whether the PAH crisis will evolve into another “tire special protection case” has yet to be considered, but it has already knocked for Chinese tire companies. A warning bell sounded.

The reporter learned from the person in charge of industrial products of Hangzhou Ruixu Product Technology Co., Ltd., which is part of the China REACH Solution Center, that the EU has strict restrictions on the PAHs in tyres and their filling oils and testing methods. The tyres need to adopt the ISO 21461 standard method and filling. Oils need to be tested with the IP346 method to meet the requirements of the REACH regulations. Failure to perform testing according to this method will be a waste for the company. Judging from the existing inspection data of Ruixu's technology, this incident is not accidental. The situation that Chinese tires exceed the standard is not optimistic. At present, there are many domestic testing organizations, but few can provide REACH required testing methods. In addition, some agencies that do not have testing capabilities or even laboratories do not mislead tire companies to conduct tests that do not meet REACH requirements because of their interest-driven measures. This will cause great risks to the quality control of Chinese tire companies.

It is reported that China’s current tire exports are strong, entering the EU market at an annual growth rate of 30%. In 2010, the number of car tires and light truck tires has reached 400 million. Since the implementation of REACH, the tire industry has been one of the downstream industries that the EU has focused on. The requirements of EU importers are endless. However, this is the first time that the EU Association has carried out large-scale spot checks on PAHs. For the regulation of tires, this is just the beginning. The production of environmentally-friendly products is a trend of social progress. Chinese tire companies should improve raw materials and formulas from the roots of production, actively improve the environmental performance of products, establish green brands, and ensure that exports are free from worry.