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Standards Agency Develops Standards for Tyres

  15th July , 2016 ,       Hits: 505

As stipulated in the mandate, the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has formulated standards for tyres.

UNBS is mandated to formulate and enforce standards to promote trade and ultimately strengthen the economy. 

The standards

Some of the standards formulated include; US EAS 357 Pneumatic tyres for truck and buses – Specification, US EAS 358 Pneumatic tyres for passenger car – Specifications, US EAS 359 Pneumatic tyres for light trucks – Specifications,  US EAS 360 Pneumatic tyres for agricultural implements – Specifications among others.

The standards were formulated and adopted in December last year

Speaking at a stakeholder engagement for importers and traders of tyres held on 7th July 2016 at UIRI Conference Hall, the UNBS Executive Director Dr. Ben Manyindo said this marks the beginning of enforcement on substandard tyres now that the standards are available for public use.

“The enforcement will be done through PVoC program  because Uganda is an importer of tyres”, he said.

Traffic Police appreciate 

Meanwhile, the Director of Traffic Department of Uganda Police Force Dr. Stephen Kasiima hailed UNBS for the efforts to standardize the sector.

He adds that the standards are also expected to address the increasing road carnage in the country partly attributed to the quality of tyres of motor vehicles.

Dr. Kasiima argues that although there several causes of road accidents like overloading, careless driving, and drunkard driving, there are over 120 fatal accidents are reported annually due of the poor quality tyres, urging consumers to be vigilant when buying tyres.

“In order to save lives, consumers are advised to mindful when buying tyres by understanding the quality requirements”, he said. 

General requirements

The general requirements help an ordinary consumer to identify a quality tyre by mere reading the markings.

According to the standards under general requirement, a tyre should be marked with the nominal section width, nominal aspect ratio, tyre construction code, nominal rim diameter code, tire size, DOT code, tyre identification number, tyre ply material, maximum cold inflation load, tyre performance specifications, age of rubber (expiry date), load index, and speed symbol.

The word “TUBELESS” should appear on the tyres that can be used without a tube. The letter “T” for TEMPORARY should be indicated on a spare tyre to characterize for temporal use. Each tyre should be labeled with the name of the manufacturer, or a brand name recognized quality mark/safety mark to show that the tyre conforms to respective national standards among others.