ATIEL announces relaunch of Europe’s lubricant quality system

The European Engine Lubricants Quality Management System (EELQMS), the only quality system that supports ACEA performance claims, has been relaunched to clarify its requirements for lubricant marketers and to promote wider compliance with its guidelines.

EELQMS was developed jointly by ACEA (The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association), ATC (The Technical Committee of Petroleum Additive Manufacturers in Europe) and ATIEL (The Technical Association of the European Lubricants Industry), which administers the system on behalf of the other stakeholders.

It embraces various quality standards, test methods and procedures, together with industry Codes of Practice and the requirements of the ACEA European Oil Sequences and provides clear guidelines for developing lubricants for which a valid ACEA claim can be made.

A description of the EELQMS had previously been contained within the ATIEL Code of Practice, but it is now repositioned as a standalone, overarching quality system to which the ATC and ATIEL Codes of Practice, amongst other standards documents, provide key inputs.

To support better understanding of the relaunched system, a new “Guide to EELQMS” document has been published that sets out the lubricant marketer’s responsibilities under the system and the process for compliance with its guidelines.

Although voluntary, the EELQMS is the only system that can be used to support claims against the ACEA Oil Sequences, which set the minimum performance specifications for lubricants used in different European automotive engine categories, and so enables lubricant marketers to include those performance claims on their product labelling.

Over the past two years, ATIEL, with the support of ACEA and ATC, has stepped up promotion and training around the quality system as part of efforts to improve awareness and understanding of its role in making valid ACEA performance claims and to safeguard the quality of engine lubricants in the marketplace.

To support the promotion of the repositioned EELQMS, a new logo and branding has been developed along with a dedicated website, www.eelqms.eu.