Dubai: All tyres manufactured and sold in the UAE will have fuel efficiency and wet grip ratings from next year, a top Emirates Standardisation and Metrology (Esma) official has revealed.
The announcement comes close on the heels of Esma’s similar rating system for all light vehicles that was reported by Gulf News last month.
Abdullah Al Muaini, director-general of Esma, told Gulf News that design of tyres and its rolling resistance determines its impact on a vehicle’s fuel economy.
“It’s a consumer’s right to know which tyre will give them more value for money and more safety,” said Al Muaini.
He added that a tyre’s structure also determines its grip during wet conditions.
“Some tyres perform better on wet roads than others depending on its structural design and the technology used. That is why we will meticulously examine all tyres entering the country and rate them according to their impact on fuel economy and safety during rain,” he informed.
Elaborating further he said an excellent rated tyre can help save up to 20 per cent of fuel, compared to a ‘very poor’ rated tyre, which will use more fuel than a vehicle is normally supposed to consume.
According to Al Muaini, the technical requirements are approved by GCC and Esma’s board of directors and the rating system will be enforced starting from January 2017.
He said that the Wet Grip rating tells you how well the tyres perform in wet conditions on a scale from Excellent (safest) to very poor (worst performing tyre).
“Rolling resistance and wet grip of the tyres shall be tested and documented in accordance with the international technical Regulation UNECE R 117,” he said.
He said Esma, in cooperation with local civic bodies, will make regular surveillance to ensure that all tyres are provided with the label indicating the rolling resistance and the wet grip value of the tyres.
Last year, Esma introduced RFID stickers for all tyres sold in the UAE to ensure greater consumer protection by rooting out tampering and duplication of tyres.
The RFID chip embedded in the sticker gets damaged if it is removed, making it impossible to reuse.
in 2012, Esma completely overhauled the regulation on tyres, introducing a new ‘birth to death’ scheme, that provides quality control specifications right from the stage of manufacturing to disposal of tyres.
Among the highlights of the regulations are the requirement of additional certification for manufacturers, complete ban on sale of used tyres as well as restriction in re-treading and repair of tyres, while proper storage and disposal of tyres have also been given utmost importance.
Under the revised law, no used tyre, no matter if it’s used only for a few days, is allowed to be used, as it is deemed unsafe by the authority.
The law allows sale and use of retreaded tyres but only if the retreading is done by certified firms through a pre-agreed process.
However, used tyres continue to be sold openly in some parts of Sharjah despite a blanket ban, and Esma has called on local enforcement bodies to check the illegal sale.
