THE updated standards for the importation of new and used tyres will be published and made available within the first quarter of 2017, Executive Director, Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) Candelle Walcott-Bostwick said.“When that new standard comes out we will ensure that there is compliance to that standard… we will continue to conduct visits and the different locations and premises to ensure that the products we monitor continue to conform to the requirements of national standards, we want to encourage regulators to enforce standards that fall under their purview,” the GNBS head said.

Speaking at a recent press conference at the GNBS office at the Exhibition Complex in Sophia, Walcott-Bostwick said monitoring of tyres is done by inspectors at ports of entry, bonds and outlets, where tyres are examined for labelling and quality requirements.

She noted that to ensure used tyres meet the quality and labelling requirements for importation; the GNBS provides importers with a copy of the relevant national standards and advises them to ensure that their foreign suppliers are aware of the requirements to minimise rejects at the time of examination in Guyana.

Senior Inspector for Legal Metrology and Standards Compliance, Dillon Beckles, said used tyres are rejected after use in the country of origin for varying time periods and for various reasons unknown to the buyers.

As such, he said one cannot vouch for their quality and fitness for resale.

He said that ever since the commencement of the importation of used tyres in Guyana, the bureau has been monitoring this commodity under its Standards Compliance Programme to ensure that key requirements are met.

These include specification for pneumatic passenger car tyre; specification for new pneumatic tyres for commercial highway vehicles; and the Code of Practice for the storage of tyres, inner tubes and flaps.

TOUGH JOB

The inspector explained that used tyre inspection is a very labour intensive activity as tyres are individually inspected for defects as some defects are not visible to the naked eye and may not be detected, so users are not quite sure of the kinds of defects that may be present at the time of purchase.

In addition, he said during routine surveillance, inspections of used tyre outlets, due to inappropriate storage inspectors have found tyres with damaged beads, evidence of dry rot, failure to meet the 4 mm thread depth requirements, patches and plugs occurring in proximity to each other, among other defects.

Tyres, which are found with these defects, are destroyed by the GNBS.

Given the fact that there are hidden defects in used tyres, Beckles said that human lives are placed at even greater risks, especially given the practice of over-inflating and under-inflating these tyres, using the wrong size, overloading buses used for public transportation which puts added weight on these used tyres, coupled with speeding on the roadways.

He underscored that importers and dealers of used tyres are asked to note that they will still be required to register with the GNBS as it will continue to monitor the quality and labelling of both new and used tyres imported and offered for sale in Guyana, until such time when the proposed ban takes effect and used tyres have been phased out.

On an average, over 260,000 used tyres are imported annually into Guyana. Over the last four years the GNBS has inspected over 1.1 million used tyres that were imported at an average rejection rate of approximately 3000 per year.

A large majority of these registrants are involved in the trade of used tyres, which are imported mainly from Europe, and in a few instances, North America.

Finance Minister Winston Jordan during his 2017 budget said that restriction will apply to the importation of used tyres for motor cars, vans, pickups, Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and mini-buses, with effect from April 1, 2017.