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 In addition, the Austrian levy system for reprographic devices is obsolete because of its complexity: There are for any kind of reprographic devices more than 80 separate tariffs, depending on the product specifications, the contract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

June 18 – June 19, 2014 in Budapest, Hungary Meet us at the international exhibiton and conference for chemicals! Date: 18.06. – 19.06.2014 1cc at Chemspec Europe: Hans-Jochen Lueckefett Place: Budapest, Hungary June 18, 2014, 13:30 – 14:00: 1cc consultant Hans-Jochen Lueckefett will speak about: “Civil Law Product Liability under REACH and CLP” (Conference “Regulatory Services Zone”) Further information: http://www.chemspecevents.com/europe/reach      

Intersolar 2014

4.06. – 6.06.2014   Meet us at  Intersolar Europe, the world’s largest exhibiton for the solar industry! Date: 4.06. – 6.06.2014 1cc at Intersolar 2014: Christina Brandmann, Guy Kobani Place: Messe München Further information: www.intersolar.de/en  

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

May 31 – June 5, 2014, San Antonio, Texas (USA) Meet us at the International Conference for Product Stewardship! Date: 31.05. – 5.06.2014 1cc at Stewardship 2014: Ofira Varga Place: San Antonio, Texas, USA June 4, 2014: 1cc consultant Ofira Varga will speak about “Worldwide Take-back Legislation: A Challenge for Globally Acting Manufacturers” Further information: 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

May 5 to May 9 2014   Meet us at the World’s Leading Trade Fair for Water, Sewage, Waste and Raw Materials Management! Date: 5.5. – 9.5.2014 1cc at IFAT 2014: Guy Kobani Place: Munich Further information: www.ifat.de/en  

Hannover Messe 2014

Date: 7 – 11 April 2014 Place: Hannover 1cc at  Hannover Messe: Guy Kobani Further information: www.hannovermesse.de/home

“REACH and RoHS Update” at IHK Stuttgart

“REACH and RoHS Update” at IHK Stuttgart Date: 7 April 2014 Place: IHK Stuttgart 1cc consultant Eva Hink will give an update about the legal requirements of EU chemical Regulation REACH and EU Directive RoHS (Recast). The event addresses both producers and retailers. Time: 9.00 am to 12.45 pm. Further Information: http://ausgabe.vstdbv3.ihk.de/vstdbv3/download?secid=%7B3DES%7D9C9F0A5DABDEDFDD

Copyright Levies: Public Consultation on EU Copyright Rules

Again, after 2006 and 2008, the European Commission has launched a public consultation to revise EU copyright rules. The objective of this consultation is to gather input from all stakeholders on these rules. A review seems to be urgently needed, because both administration and industry have a common interest to benefit from a consolidated view about specific legal provisions and from some tightly focused amendments. Besides the legitimate interest of companies for compliance, also several widely noticed reports show a certain need for action: among them are those of Pierre Lescure, a French media manager mandated by the Ministry of Culture to evaluate the possible future of levy systems, the recommendations of former EU commissioner António Vitorino or of Françoise Castex, member of the European parliament with the Socialist party, as well as contributions of French Minister Aurélie Filippetti.. 1cc will thoroughly analyze the summary results of the public consultation, considering all stakeholder replies after publication. After a recent deadline extension for the sending of inputs until 5 March this will previously be in the course of March 2014.