ATIEL issues new version of lubricant marketers’ letter of conformance
ATIEL, the technical association of the European lubricants industry, has issued a new version of the Lubricant Marketers’ Letter of Conformance (LoC) to clarify the responsibilities of signatories and the brands covered by an LoC.
The changes are aimed at ensuring signatories understand their particular commitments under the European Engine Lubricant Quality Management System (EELQMS) by distinguishing between obligations for signatories who develop and/or manufacture lubricants that they market and those for signatories who market lubricants developed and/or manufactured by third parties.
The EELQMS is the only quality 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. Compliance with the EELQMS, which is administered by ATIEL, allows lubricant marketers to include those claims on their product labelling.
In order to claim compliance with the system, lubricant marketers must sign an LoC confirming that their products making ACEA claims are developed and manufactured in accordance with its requirements.
The new version of the LoC, which comes into effect from November 1, 2016, also requires signatories to provide details of the lubricant brands that are covered by an LoC. This is designed to bring greater transparency around the products on the market making performance claims against the ACEA Oil Sequences, and which have been developed in accordance with the EELQMS.
The new version of the LoC is available on the ATIEL website at www.atiel.org/code-of-practice/letters-of-conformance and will be included in the next Issue of the ATIEL Code of Practice, due to be published later this year.