Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MSTYR15 (Market Surveillance Action for Tyres 2015)

Teaser

Market surveillance across the EU in respect of the vehicle tyres Regulation (EC) No. 1222/2009 is not routinely undertaken by all the relevant authorities in a harmonised or coordinated way. This is important, for without good market surveillance there is no way to ensure...

Summary

Market surveillance across the EU in respect of the vehicle tyres Regulation (EC) No. 1222/2009 is not routinely undertaken by all the relevant authorities in a harmonised or coordinated way. This is important, for without good market surveillance there is no way to ensure that products comply with the environment and safety measures incorporated in this measure. Non-compliance penalises much of society: purchasers and users and those economic operators facing unfair competition from the supply of non-compliant products. Though some market surveillance authorities (MSAs) have established working procedures that can be described as “good practice”, many of them have not yet built the skills or had the resources to work at those levels.
The objective of MSTyr15 (Market Surveillance Project TYRES 2015) is to help deliver the intended economic and environmental benefits of these energy efficiency regulations by strengthening the skills and capacities of MSAs leading to increasing compliance with the regulations.

Work performed

The programme of work was subdivided into six Work Packages (WPs). In summary:
WP1 provides effective management, coordination and strategic direction throughout the duration of the project. This, for the period covered by this report, was achieved through forming a Management Team (MT) of representatives of each beneficiary and an Advisory Board (AB) whose membership is made up of project stakeholder organisations. Meetings (2 for the MT, 1 for the AB) have been organised as well as a number of meetings specific to individual WPs. Administrative management has been taking place through monitoring the progress of deliverables and through maintaining a continuing liaison with EASME. Coordination and technical management is being supported on a day-to-day basis through the work of the facilitators appointed to each WP by the coordinating beneficiary.
WP2 was tasked to produce and publish Good Practice Guidelines (GPGs), which was accomplished in the period covered by this report. The tasks of familiarisation with those GPGs and the subsequent adoption of them is ongoing, with both being accomplished through the work being undertaken by the beneficiaries in WP5.
WP3 was tasked to develop training materials and training opportunities both through an attended event and through access to on-line materials. This, for the period covered by this report, was achieved by holding a training event in Brussels and by posting the GPG training materials on-line so that they can be accessed during field inspections by MSA staff or downloaded from the MSTyr15 website, if required, to enable self-learning to take place either on or off-line. Additionally, a label inspection training video has been produced in 15 different languages. This, too, can be accessed via the MSTyr15 website.
WP4 was responsible for developing a project database “App” for use by the participants on their project supplied android tablets or other devices such as their desktop PCs. The structure of the database was matched to the requirements for gathering and storing data related to the inspection and testing of tyres yet, at the same time, retaining a core that would serve as the basis for low-cost development into an equivalent application for other product sectors. Once entered, such as during an on-site inspection in a tyre distribution depot, the data uploads to the project database and synchronises with data collected by other MSAs. The updated synchronised data then auto-downloads onto all the tablets. Currently, data on >7000 tyres is held in the project database. This data will be auto-transferred into ICSMS when DG GROW have developed the necessary procedures. Since ICSMS is accessible to all EU MSAs, so it provides the best route for disseminating the results of the project.

WP5 was the work package that focusses on the core task for MSAs, that of the inspection and testing of passenger car tyres to check their compliance with the applicable regulations. In the period covered by this report, inspections have been made of the labelling on more than 7000 tyres and a number of examinations of technical documentation have been made too. Following a competitive tendering process, a test laboratory was contracted to undertake full compliance testing on an expected >100 models of car tyre. Testing has now commenced with an initial focus on so-called “winter” tyres as these are only available on the EU market during the colder period of the year.
WP6 is delivering a proactive and highly visible communication plan direct to stakeholders; supply chain and the wider user community. Many communication activities have taken place in the period covered by this report. These include using developing the project website from which all project documentation can be downloaded, and the release of a newsletter and a press release - available in a number of languages. Other communication avenues have included the use of Advisory Board members as a communications conduit

Final results

Progress beyond the state of the art is being achieved in WP4.
The multifunctional “App” developed in WP4 enables data to be collected directly into an integrated IT system. It eliminates the use of “pen and paper” to record and store data. Subject to the cooperation of DG GROW, this app enables data to be entered just once since it can, in theory, seamlessly flow from the point of entry directly into the ICSMS database and so be immediately accessible by any registered MSA in the EU.
The potential impact from the work of this project is expected to fall in the following areas:
Enabling policy – 15 national market surveillance authorities are now actively engaged with enforcing in this policy area. In most cases, at levels that they have never achieved previously.
Building capacities and skills - staff from MSAs across the EEA will receive training and will develop competences in work methodologies that are based on good practices established in other authorities.
Energy savings will be triggered by the project within its duration and in the period that follows. This will be achieved through the enforcement actions undertaken as a direct result of the inspections in done in WP5 since these will remove non-compliant products from the market i.e. those that are consuming higher levels of energy than are permitted by the regulations.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.mstyr15.eu/index.php/en/.