UKLA President’s Report
Thank you to all who attended the UKLA UEIL delegation at Celtic Manor in early June. As ever there is a lot going on at UEIL, a lot of which the UKLA has significant involvement in and it was good to receive a detailed update from David Wright, David Hopkinson, Nigel Bottom and Caroline Slinn.
It is reassuring that the challenges faced by the UK market are not isolated to our fair island, but are being felt by our European partners. The work carried out at UEIL level is helping to ensure the united voice for the lubricants sector is heard across Brussels.
On a beautiful day in South Wales the UEIL delegation meeting was followed by the UKLA annual golf day. The golfers had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon, thanks mainly to the refreshments supplied in abundance by the Secretariat. With the Director General doing a fantastic impression of Lewis Hamilton in his golf buggy to ensure all thirsts were quenched before the beer got too warm. For me sadly, the lubrication provided did not help my game at all as I left empty handed. The winning team on the day was Nustar, the Fairway Cup was won by Mark Burkey, Nustar and Dean Bennett of Trent Oil won the Ernest Newton Cup. Chris Hutchinson took the Edgar Vaughn Rose Bowl and the Great Bridge Trophy was won by Roy Coldwell, RS Clare.
CLP legislation is now in force across the European Union. This has created an immense amount of work for suppliers and blenders alike, with a lot of previously non classified products moving to classified status and carrying hazard labels. It will now take a lot of effort to educate customers and consumers on what these changes actually mean.
VLS continues to receive more complaints and the case count is now well over 30. To see what is happening and to review the cases and outcomes please visit the VLS website at
www.ukla-vls.org.uk.
2015 continues at a pace and as we approach Q4 my term as UKLA President draws to a close.
It has been a very interesting and enjoyable 12 months in the role and I would like to think that the trade association has continued on its progressive path of improvement. A course set long before I arrived at the helm.
The last year has brought significant changes at the Secretariat with David Wright joining as Director General. I am absolutely delighted that David took up the role; the outstanding work he has done for the UKLA so far is proof we made an excellent appointment.
The support David receives from Debs and Megan is superb, we have built a really strong team. The membership really benefits from this, proof of which can be seen at the UKLA functions, training courses and seminars.
I have also had the pleasure of working with Suzy Jarman on Lube Magazine. As I mentioned in the last edition, this publication continues to grow and grow. It is a key media outlet for the lubricants industry with the quality and amount of articles published increasing. I am pleased to announce we have
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UEIL President’s Report Dear Lube Magazine Readers,
I hope you are enjoying a relaxing vacation, and that you might be reading this edition of Lube on a Brazilian beach, holding a caipirinha in your other hand!
Joking aside, I want to focus this President’s report on the most recent efforts put forward by UEIL in terms of European public affairs. As you know from past reports, the UEIL Board of Directors – after lengthy consultations and analysis – has decided that the access to the technical information (ATI) from OEMs is extremely important for the UEIL Members. Despite it being a legal requirement today to provide access to technical information in a timely and affordable manner to any third party that requests it, some OEMs remain notoriously obstinate of this obligation. In fact many have become well versed in delaying, stalling and overpricing tactics in an attempt to keep technical information to themselves and thus denying the information altogether – as many of you may well know.
The UEIL Public Affairs Team in Brussels (Arne Richters, André Paula Santos and Grégoire Poisson) is currently preparing to approach the European Institutions on the matter. To ensure success, let me take this opportunity to call on you to help us put pressure on regulators to pursue those companies that do not divulge technical information as they should. Should you have ATI issues in your respective market please contact us and we will help you spread the message to your local authorities - it would certainly be fantastic if you could send them a quick “hello” e-mail.
The next UEIL meetings will take place on 23 and 24 September 2015 in Brussels, while GEIR will meet on 11 September 2015 in Milan (Viscolube will kindly provide GEIR members with passes to the Expo 2015 – just another reason to join GEIR!).
Last but not least, DO NOT FORGET TO REGISTER for the UEIL 2015 Annual Congress, to take place in Malta between 21-23 October! We have prepared a great programme for you, that includes an insider’s look on how CLP is impacting our industry, what are biolubricants, how waste oils are managed in Europe and other new interesting issues probably never introduced in Base Oils/ Lubricants Congresses. The event is also an opportunity for us to meet, as happens every year, in order to see each other, to exchange information, to network and, why not, to learn something new from our exciting world of lubricants.
See you in Malta.
For any questions regarding the above, do not hesitate to contact us at
info@ueil.org Enjoy your holidays,
Fabio Dalla Giovanna UEIL President
LUBE MAGAZINE NO.128 AUGUST 2015
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