Choosing your tyres has a direct impact on road safety and noise level, but also on your wallet. Choosing the right tyres is thus essential! Tyres sold in Europe should therefore carry an informative label. For consumers, the website pneusconseils.be (FR/NL) offers detailed explanations on this label allowing them to choose tyres that are suitable for their driving style. Professionals involved in supplying tyres will find more information on their obligations on this page.
Regulation (EU) 2020/740 requires the labelling of tyres. The label must include information on the tyres' fuel efficiency, wet grip and tyre external noise, together with visual information on suitability of the tyres for driving on snow (icon with a mountain and a snowflake) or on ice (icon with ice). The label contains also a QR code, which provides access to the EPREL product database (European Product Registry for Energy Labelling).
The tyre label is intended to inform. From the moment a tyre is offered for sale, the labelling must be present. It may be affixed directly on the tyre or displayed nearby.
All actors involved in supplying tyres have obligations in this context:
- Tyre suppliers (tyre manufacturers and importers) must provide the tyre labels to their customers and include legally defined information in the product data sheet and in the technical promotional material. The content of this information is specified in Annexes III and IV of the regulation. They must also register certain information in the EPREL product database before placing the tyre on the market.
- Distributors must ensure that displayed tyres are accompanied by their labels. They must ensure that the tyre label is displayed in any visual advertisement for a specific type of tyre and that in a case of distance selling customers have access to the information sheet. When the tyres offered for sale are not visible to the customer at the time of sale, distributors shall ensure that customers receive a copy of the tyre label before the sale.
- Vehicle suppliers and distributors shall provide customers, before sale, with both the tyre label and the relevant technical promotional material, for tyres sold together with the vehicle or fitted on the vehicle. They shall also ensure that the product data sheet is available.
- Operators of online markets shall ensure that the tyre label and the accompanying product sheet can be displayed close to the price. They must also inform the seller of his obligation to display this information.
The provisions of the regulation are monitored by the Federal Environmental Inspectorate of the Federal Public Service (FPS) Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment. The Directorate-General Road Transport and Road Safety of the Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport is also involved in monitoring certain aspects of tyre labelling.