REACH Candidate List Updated with Four New SVHCs

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has added four new substances to the Candidate List. The Candidate List contains now 155 substances. Among the new substances of very high concern (SVHC) are:        

Substance name	EC number	CAS number	Comment/Use
1,2-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, dihexyl ester, branched and linear	271-093-5	68515-50-4	Use as substitute for softener
Sodium perborate; perboric acid, sodium salt	239-172-9; 234-390-0	–	Use as bleaching agent in detergent industry
Sodium peroxometaborate	231-556-4	7632-04-4	Use in detergents
Cadmium chloride	233-296-7	10108-64-2	Use in electroplating

As these four substances are now Candidate Substances under REACH, information requirements for Candidate Substances in articles according to Article 33 apply immediately. If applicable, manufacturers and importers have to follow the requirements for notification according to article 7.2 within 6 months, which means until December 16, 2014.    

Levies for Reprography in Austria: Renewal of a very complex system

  Copyright Levies for reprographic devices like copiers, scanners and printers in Austria already being very high, have been increased further on. As every year, the tariffs are adjusted right now, valid as of 1 July 2014.  The highest tariff in Austria is at the moment nearly 1.300 € per device for a Laser Multifunctional Printer and/or Laser Copier. This tariff is about 15-times more the levy in Germany for the same device; many other direct product comparisons are even more distinctly, with up to 50-times more the levy for Scanners. So far, the yearly adjustment also continuously included an error: For some products the discounted tariff was even higher than the non-discounted tariff. After six years of follow-up by 1cc GmbH, this error has finally been eliminated. Unfortunately, that was solved by a simple rule: In such a case, the next tariff higher is to be applied now. In addition, the Austrian levy system for reprographic devices is obsolete because of its complexity: There are for any kind of reprographic devices more than 80 separate tariffs, depending on the product specifications, the contract situation of the company, the tariff caps according to the product prices, the exact date of sales, etc. The appropriate tariffing for every single device depended on up to ten characteristics! This evokes already in the everyday reporting frequent discussions with the authorities, and  goes along with tax rates, deadlines and special applications, like exports, to be considered. It may be seen as the peak of complexity that the validity periods of the tariffs depends on the contractual situation of the company with collecting society Literar Mechana: the yearly indexation of tariffs take place for contracting parties from July to July, for all other companies according to the calendar year. Thus, it requires a lot of knowledge and well organized processes to classify the products correctly and to report the sales figures in Austria, i.e. on the one hand the correct categorization of the products and equipment, and the correct application of tariffs on the other hand. These evaluations might be very elaborate, especially when detailed obligations, including tariffs, contracts, forms and further information are not instantly available. Upon request, 1cc GmbH will show you in detail the full complexity of the Austrian system.

Chemspec Europe 2014

18. Juni – 19. Juni 2014 in Budapest, Ungarn Treffen Sie uns auf der internationalen Messe und Konferenz für Chemikalien! Datum: 18.06. – 19.06.2014 Vor Ort: Hans-Jochen Lückefett Ort: Budapest, Ungarn 18. Juni 2014, 13.30 – 14.00 Uhr: 1cc Berater Hans-Jochen Lückefett wird einen Vortrag zum Thema Rechtliche Gesichtspunkte der Produktverantwortung unter REACH und CLP halten: „Civil Law Product Liability under REACH and CLP“ (Konferenz „Regulatory Services Zone“) Weitere Informationen: http://www.chemspecevents.com/europe/reach      

Intersolar 2014

4.06. – 6.06.2014   Treffen Sie uns auf der Intersolar Europe, der weltweit größten Fachmesse für die Solarwirtschaft! Datum: 4.06. – 6.06.2014 Vor Ort: Christina Brandmann, Guy Kobani Ort: Messe München Weitere Informationen: www.intersolar.de  

RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU: Eight new exemptions published

On May 20, 2014, eight new RoHS exemptions with respect to lead and mercury have been published as Delegated Directives in the Official Journal of the European Union. The exemptions allow a higher threshold of substances restricted in Annex II of the Directive for specific uses in electrical and electronic equipment. Two exemptions will be included into Annex III of the Directive (general application) and six exemptions will be included into Annex IV (medical devices and monitoring and control instruments). EU member states that included the list of exemptions into their national legislation (not linked to the Annexes of the Directive directly) will have to update the list accordingly. Within the new RoHS Directive, exemptions that have no specific date of expiration expire after five years (general application) or seven years (medical devices and monitoring and control instruments) if no extension is applied for. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/TXT/?uri=OJ:L:2014:148:TOC

Stewardship 2014

31. Mai – 5. Juni 2014 in San Antonio, Texas (USA) Treffen Sie uns auf der internationalen Konferenz für Produktverantwortung! Datum: 31.05. – 5.06.2014 Vor Ort: Ofira Varga Ort: San Antonio, Texas, USA 4. Juni 2014: 1cc Beraterin Ofira Varga wird einen Vortrag zum Thema Rücknahme von Elektro-Altgeräten halten: „Worldwide Take-back Legislation: A Challenge for Globally Acting Manufacturers“ Weitere Informationen: http://aihce2014.org/stewardship-2014/ http://aihce2014.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Stewardship-2014-Program-at-a-Glance.pdf    

Sentence of OLG Koeln: Energy Efficiency Labelling of Monitors with HDMI is Obligatory

The German Oberlandesgericht/OLG Koeln (Higher Regional Court) has passed the following sentence regarding energy efficiency labelling of computer monitors: These devices have to be considered as television monitors if they are equipped with HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface), irrespective of having non-standardised video signal paths like DVI and SDI at the same time. Therefore such monitors have to be marked with an energy efficiency label indicating the energy efficiency class. The labeling requirements are based on Regulation (EU) No 1062/2010 of September 28, 2010. In the respective case a German retailer had placed an advertisement for a video monitor with HDMI (among other technical features) without indicating the energy efficiency class of the device. The OLG Koeln classified the monitor as television monitor because of the HDMI video signal path. With this court ruling retailers are obliged to check if products they offer to end-users are labelled accordingly. They also have to indicate the energy efficiency class of the device in any advertisement, if energy-related or price information is disclosed. Therefore, the court issued a cease and desist order against the German retailer with a penalty of 250.000 Euro for each case of non-compliance. Retailers and manufacturers of a computer monitor which fulfil the criteria of a television monitor due to HDMI are recommended to label the device: German market surveillance authorities are expected to base their surveillance practice on this sentence.

IFAT 2014

5.05. – 9.05.2014   Treffen Sie uns auf der Weltleitmesse für Wasser-, Abwasser-, Abfall- & Rohstoffwirtschaft! Datum: 5.05.- 9.05.2014 Vor Ort: Guy Kobani Ort: Messe München Weitere Informationen: www.ifat.de  

Hannover Messe 2014

Hannover Messe 2014 Datum: 7.04.- 11.04.2014 Vor Ort: Guy Kobani Ort: Hannover Weitere Informationen: www.hannovermesse.de  

„REACH und RoHS Update“ bei IHK Stuttgart

“REACH und RoHS Update” bei der IHK Stuttgart Datum: 7. April 2014 Ort: IHK Stuttgart 1cc Beraterin Eva Hink gibt ein Update zu den gesetzlichen Anforderungen der EU-Chemikalienverordnung REACH und der EU-Richtlinie RoHS (Recast). Die Veranstaltung richtet sich sowohl an das produzierende Gewerbe als auch den Handel. Uhrzeit: 9.00 Uhr bis 12.45 Uhr. Weitere Informationen: http://ausgabe.vstdbv3.ihk.de/vstdbv3/download?secid=%7B3DES%7D9C9F0A5DABDEDFDD