Block Exemption – Update August 2021

Date: Friday 06 August 2021

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The consultation by the EU into Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulations (MV-BER) began in 2019 and has been “backwards” looking, examining the effectiveness of the legislation. The forward looking consultation that goes deeper into the maintaining and possible modernising of MV-BER starts later this year. IAAF, through FIGIEFA, has been extremely active at putting forward the perspective of the independent automotive aftermarket.

The current EU MV-BER still applies in the UK until 2023, but after that, it will be up to UK Government bodies to come up with their own legislation (if they wish to do so). While we expect the UK government to adopt a modernised BER in line with the EU, IAAF has formed UK AFCAR to lobby UK Government.

If BER were not to be renewed in the UK, then using parts of OE-quality or matching quality within the warranty period could invalidate the vehicle warranty. However, neither the UK government nor the EU can force independent repairers to use only Original Equipment Supplier (OES) parts.

For many years, the EU has been very pro-SME and pro-choice and we have heard favourable noises from within the commission supporting our stance. We have to ensure the same happens within the UK Government.

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