European tire body says optimistic over future talks with US
Brussels – The head of the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) has expressed hope that the US will come on board with the Global Technical Regulations (GTR) regarding tires.
“We do regret the abstention and have been given the reasons for that,” Fazilet Cinaralp told ERJ, without further elaborating on the reasons given by the US authorities.
“The good thing is that the new administrator to NHTSA [National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration] has been announced and we [the tire industry] are confident that the situation will be recovered soon.
“We look forward to further cooperating with NHTSA on the further important steps still to be implemented on tire-GTR,” she said.
The GTR was adopted by the World Forum on Automotive Regulations of the UN on 14 Nov, despite the US abstaining from the vote. Other countries, including China, South Korea, India, Canada, Russia and the EU voted for the new harmonised regulations, intended to reduce market-entry barriers and facilitate trade among participating countries.
The US is the second most important destination for EU tire exports and yet both sides have strong divergent approaches to regulations and market surveillance.
The EU is system is based on the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) 1958 agreement regulation, while the US one is based on regulations promulgated by the DOT-NHTSA.
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