USA: DuPont has called on the EU to aggressively curb noncompliance with the MAC Directive and called on the German motor industry to take an open, collaborative approach to testing cars designed to use HFO-1234yf.
DuPont's statement follows this week's announcement that the EU is likely to support the French ban on certain Mercedes cars using the now banned R134a in their vehicle air conditioning systems.
'Allowing implicit noncompliance with the law would cripple the EU's future ability to enforce environmental requirements and also take away any sound basis to invest in future innovation,' said Thierry F. J. Vanlancker, president, DuPont Chemicals & Fluoroproducts. 'The European Union clearly recognizes this and has stated that efforts to circumvent the MAC Directive are unacceptable. The action by French authorities to block registration of certain vehicles underscores how seriously this is taken by Member States.'
'The EU has promised to take action if type approvals are being misused,' Vanlancker added. 'This could include setting an earlier date by which all cars sold in the EU must comply with the MAC Directive, since it appears that automakers don't need as long of a phase-in period as they had originally asked for.'
DuPont has also requested that testing currently under way by the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) would be conducted openly, as there has been no publication or broad industry review of the testing protocols.