Tyre Trade Register To End
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THEagreement between the Tyre Manufacturers Conference and five trade associations to maintain the Tyre Trade Register is contrary to the public interest, ruled the Restrictive Practices Court in a reserved judgment -on Friday. The rules of the register had been administered in good faith, without favour or bias, said Mr. Justice Buckley in his judgment, but the Court was not satisfied that abrogation of the comprehensive scheme constituted by agreements between manufacturers and traders would expose the public to greater risks of injury than existed with the scheme in operation, as had been argued.
Mr. Justice Buckley said: "In our view, faulty fitting and indifferent standards of tyre maintenance are the commonest causes of tyre failure but we do not think that the former has been established to be a more common cause than the latter."
Following the Court's ruling, injunctions were applied for, to put the findings into effect. Counsel for the respondents said he was authorized to give undeftakings on behalf of the T.M.C. which would, in effect, bring the whole scheme to an end, but• he was unable to give any undertaking in respect of the five trade associations with some 30,000 members; Mr. Justice Buckley said he was opposed to the idea of granting injunctions against such a very large body of people, many of whom, he understood, did not even deal in tyres. He refused to grant the injunctions but said the Registrar was free to apply again in the future if it became necessary.
Commenting on the decision, the Tyre Manufacturers Conference said that the tyre industry was greatly disappointed that the Court had found against it; in rejecting the industry's plea that its arrangements contributed to road safety by ensuring so far as possible that tyres were competently sold and fitted, the Court was taking upon itself a grave resfionsi bility.