The law changes on Thursday 13th August 2009, making it illegal in the UK to fit a non-type approved catalytic converter to a petrol vehicle registered at any date from 1st March 2001. The date is in-line with the introduction of the ‘Y’ registration plate.
So what about old stock?
Point 4.9 of the DfT response to the consultation process makes it clear that the regulations do not include a sell through period.* The best advice is to return any unsold stock to the supplier or manufacturer if it is not clearly marked as type approved. CAT brands such as Klarius / TIMAX are already all type approved so are a much safer bet. You will be able to recognise a type approved item as it now has to be “Permanently marked”, this means it will have a serial number either engraved or embossed on the outside.
* see http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/closed/devices/
Who is liable for the fines?
The Department for Transport has confirmed that the result of supplying or fitting a non-type approved CAT will be to make the company or business responsible and potentially individual people liable to prosecution with a maximum fine of £5,000. Professional Motor Mechanics need to learn quickly about what to do to adhere to the law and protect themselves; their customers, their employers and suppliers.
How will it be policed?
The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) will enforce the new legislation and will purchase replacement catalytic converters in order to check that they are correctly Type Approved. In correspondence announcing Ministerial approval of the legislation, the DfT has indicated that the VCA will concentrate their efforts on enforcement with manufacturers and importers to begin with.
The “VCA will, undertake a campaign to educate distributors and retailers of their obligations under the Regulations.” After a period of three months “the enforcement policy of the VCA will begin to apply an equal focus on investigating compliance by manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers in their respective roles.”
What is a safe bet?
Klarius has adopted a pro-active position towards the overdue legislation as evident in the Issue 23 catalogue published in January 2009 which clearly identifies all vehicle applications that require a type approved product. The catalogue contains over 900 Type Approved catalytic converter references, the majority of which are available immediately from UK stock.
The new law will also require that replacement Diesel Particulate Filters for vehicles approved to EU Regulation 715/2007 (Euro 5 and Euro 6) are also Type Approved and specific marking requirements have been defined in the final regulations.
About the KLARIUS Group
Klarius Group is the largest European manufacturer of aftermarket car parts today. The Klarius Group operates five high-volume Manufacturing Plants, a Research & Development Centre, four European Technical Centres, eight International Logistics & Distribution Hubs, and eighteen national and regional Stock Warehouses based across Europe. Klarius Group Headquarters are located in Manchester (UK).
The Klarius Group employs 1,200 personnel across Europe, and has an annual turnover of 350 million Euros.
The two current major market brands within the Klarius Group are Klarius Emission Control Products and QH Automotive parts. Both the QH and Klarius product brands represent a range of OE quality replacement automotive products. Klarius Group companies now offer over 100,000 parts, covering the majority of the European Car Parc, supplying over 80,000 parts every day, to over 5,600 delivery points in more than 136 countries.
Editor Contact
DMA Europa Ltd. : Roland Renshaw
Tel: +44 (0)1299 405454 Fax: +44 (0)1299 403092
Web: www.dmaeuropa.com
Email: roland@dmaeuropa.com
Company Contact
Klarius Group Ltd. : Véronique Auger
Tel: +44 (0) 161 489 3764 Fax: +44 (0) 161 489 6617
Web: www.klarius.eu
Email: Veronique.Auger@Klarius.EU