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Fuel Parts leads the charge on new catalyst legislation

Cat specialist Fuel Parts has unveiled a new initiative, which it claims will help simplify the new legislation and assist both factors and garages in the supply and fitment of cats.

Fuel Parts has announced that it will meet the white paper requirements from 1 May 2006, an entire month before they are due to come into force on 1 June 2006. From 1 May, all Fuel Parts catalysts will feature a new labelling system, designed to ensure complete transparency and understanding of the new legislation throughout the supply chain.

To recap, the new legislation stipulates that all catalytic converters sold – for petrol and diesel vehicles – from 1 June 2006 fall into three categories and, an explanation of the Fuel Parts labelling system is listed below.

• Green Label: All cats sold for vehicles registered after 1 January 2001 have to be ‘type approved’ meaning that they have been tested and certified to meet OE standards.
• Red Label: Vehicles registered before 1 Jan 2001 do not need a type approved cat, but must feature a label stating they are illegal for use on vehicles registered after this date.
• Yellow Label: It is only okay to sell and fit this non type-approved cat to vehicles registered after 1 Jan 2001 provided that the catalyst was developed before 31 October 2002.

In its range, Fuel Parts has more than 619 green labelled cats, 406 red label and 71 yellow label cats. By January 2007, the company has said that it will have no yellow labelled cats in its range and all future development at Fuel Parts UK will focus on type-approved catalysts.

Commenting on the new legislation and the effects it will have on the UK aftermarket, Fuel Parts MD, Paul Tomlinson, said: “We’ve had catalysts on cars since 1992 and therefore this legislation is disappointing as it give 10 years grace to the worst polluting vehicles.

“We have invested considerable time and resources in meeting the new cat requirements and the launch of the new labeling is designed to make it clear and simple for customers to identify the type of cats they sell and fit.”

Click to see examples of the Fuel Parts UK new converter labels.