BER latest

BER latest

2 May 2008

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Leaked EU report gives "serious wake up call" to independent aftermarket, says IGA boss

A LEAKED copy of the long-awaited EU report on Block Exemption (BER) renewal has given a “serious wake up call” to the independent sector, the head of the Independent Garage Association (IGA) has warned.

Colin Parlett spoke to Aftermarket today (Thursday May 1st) shortly after seeing a leaked copy of the 60-page report for the first time. The report, by EU car competition chief Paulo Cesarini, outlines the EU’s initial views on the future of BER and legislation affecting the automotive aftermarket.

“Having looked at the report, my first reaction is that we’ll be very lucky to get any kind of Block Exemption renewal at all,” said Colin (pictured right). “I think we’ll be moving towards some kind of replacement legislation instead.”

“I hope Mr Cesarini is just taking a very strong view to start with so that he can come down later, subject to the interest of the various parties involved,” added Colin, who is a former president of the RMIF and the owner of an MOT test station in Golders Green, London.

“This is a real wake up call for everyone involved,” said Colin. “The conditions under which we all trade are changing and people need to know what’s going on.”

“The worrying thing is that there are a lot of people still not aware of the implications of all this. We’ve been looking ahead to the renewal of BER for four years now and we’re still finding a lack of understanding among a lot of small repairers about the implications for their businesses.

“Some of the more successful garages say ‘we’re ok, our order books are full for the next three weeks’. But that’s really not enough. In one year’s time, are they still going to be able to repair cars?”

Colin said BER was not necessarily vital to the future of a competitive aftermarket provided alternative legislation to protect independent garages was introduced.

“People should never lose sight of the importance of Euro 5 in all of this as it contains clauses to make technical information available,” he said.

However, he sounded a cautionary note saying that relying on Euro 5 legislation alone was not enough because it would only apply to cars built after 2010 – leaving a huge number of cars unprotected by legislation in the car parc.

“I think there is at least some acknowledgement from the EU that Euro 5 alone is not enough to protect the industry,” he said.

“The important thing is that there is a way to protect and safeguard consumer choice and allow independent garages to deliver a professional service.

“Manufacturers of diagnostic tools also need access to data to build kit, so there’s got to be some protection there.”

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