ATIEL and its members have received several enquiries regarding fraudulent lubricants or fake lubricants in the marketplace. Fraud in the market through the selling of fraudulent lubricants is unacceptable.
Although occurrences of fraud are rare, this statement is intended to provide some guidance to support lubricant marketers affected by this type of fraud and to try to aid recognition of fraudulent oils and indicate what action can be taken to prevent it.Examples of selling fraudulent lubricants in the market include:
1) Counterfeiting lubricants by third parties such as:
2) Fraudulent lubricants such as:
ATIEL supports measures for preventing fraudulent lubricants being sold in the market, which are the responsibility of the lubricant marketer to implement. Such measures include, but are not limited to:
ATIEL works with its partners within the industry and has implemented a scheme for sampling oils from the market and analysing them for compliance against the requirements of the ACEA Oil Sequences.
An additional benefit of this analysis is identification of any tested oils from the market that are potentially fraudulent. Photographs of the packaging are also taken which may indicate to the oil marketer if it is counterfeit. If such a case is suspected, the marketer will be informed to allow further investigation.
ATIEL is committed to improving the quality of lubricants sold in the market and the ATIEL Code of Practice, together with other industry codes and specifications, drives quality lubricant development as part of the European Engine Lubricants’ Quality Management System(EELQMS). More information on the ATIEL Code of Practice and the EELQMS can be found at: