The right for access to repair and maintenance information is defined in the tractor legislation as the right of any interested party to get the information necessary to perform a reparation and maintain an agricultural vehicle. It entails that manufacturers have to provide that information, preferably by a dedicated RMI website, against reasonable fees. The information has to be provided on a non-discriminatory basis as compared to authorised dealers.
This right for access is valid for all aspects of tractors. For towed vehicles it is only valid for the requirements as specified in the Framework Regulation 167/2013; this means that no functional requirements are subject. Non-road mobile machinery are also not in scope.
CEMA companies are compliant with the legislation. CEMA however resents the way this file came to live for agricultural vehicles, as a copy-paste from the car sector without any proper impact assessment from the Commission, as admitted to a question from MEP Annie Schreijer. While at least for the car sector a clear parallel independent aftermarket distribution chain was found with their particular problems, for the agricultural machinery sector no comparable RMI issues exists. The ag machinery sector is much smaller and fundamentally different, and the new rules will impose a costly, unnecessary burden on the many SMEs active in the sector. CEMA continues to ask for a reality check.
