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2019 - Page 2 of 4 -

18

Sep 2019

EEU states launching copyright levy systems

On 18, Sep 2019 | In News @en | By Alisa Maier

The five member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) are currently revising and concretizing their copyright regulations. This applies not only to legal provisions, but also to purely organisational issues and has an impact on the copyright levy systems. A harmonisation of the systems in the sense of this community of states is to be expected.

Russia and Kazakhstan have already introduced levies on devices and storage media. The Russian levy system has been established and active for a long time and is very comprehensive. The scope has been revised recently. Remarkably, the list of levied devices names the EEU code, which fulfils a similar function to the EORI number of the European Union. Kazakhstan has only recently revived the inactive levy system with Ordinances 445/2019 and 391/291. Manufacturers and importers are now called upon to register through binding agreements with collecting societies. They will then have to pay for the quantities of MP3/4-capable devices put on the market. Belarus has also established a complete levy system and only revised its Copyright Act in July (216-Z/2019). Among other things, the law now provides for procedural facilitations, which can also support negotiations between authorities and industry on the amount of levies for devices and storage media.

In two other member states of the Union, neither legislation nor practical organisation have yet reached that stage: Armenia and Kyrgyzstan have the right to private copying. In Kyrgyzstan, a copyright levy is also planned to compensate for legal private copying. However, there are still no effective procedural rules for the Kyrgyzpatent authority to assert the claims.

For more information, please contact: copyright@1cc-consulting.com

03

Sep 2019

Meet us at Eurobike in Friedrichshafen and IFA in Berlin

On 03, Sep 2019 | In News @en | By Alisa Maier

  • Eurobike in Friedrichshafen: Thursday, 05.09.2019
  • IFA in Berlin: Monday, 09.09.2019 or Tuesday, 10.09.2019

Your contact to us:

+49 7031 43938-0

contact@1cc-consulting.com

We look forward to your contact request and a personal meeting.

16

Aug 2019

German authorities prosecute infringements against German Packaging Law

On 16, Aug 2019 | In News @en | By Alisa Maier

In July, the Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister (ZSVR) has contacted dozens of thousands of producers that are not fully compliant with the legal requirements of the German Packaging Law (VerpackG).

The most common lacks of compliance relate to:

  • missing registration with packaging register (LUCID)
  • missing system participation (membership with a packaging compliance scheme)
  • outstanding or incomplete volume declarations.

The ZSVR urges the producers to take action to address the deficiencies identified.

If the manufacturers do not remedy the shortcomings in a timely manner, the ZSVR will forward the information to the competent enforcement authorities so that they can examine whether an offence procedure will be initiated.

Furthermore, the ZSVR has announced that it intends to carry out such investigations on a regular basis in the future. In the long term, this should lead to a higher rate of system participation and licensed packaging volumes.

If you have received a letter from the ZSVR or need any assistance regarding packaging compliance in Germany, please contact us: contact@1cc-consulting.com

18

Jul 2019

ECHA publishes updated Candidate List

On 18, Jul 2019 | In News @en | By Alisa Maier

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has published the new REACH Candidate List on July 16, 2019: Four Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) were added to the list. The Candidate List of substances of very high concern for Authorization now contains 201 substances.

The newly added substances have many different uses. For instance, 2-methoxyethyl acetate is among other things used in various applications as a solvent (e.g. industrial as well as a for resins and different types of gums). TNPP is mainly applied as an antioxidant for polymer stabilization. 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-2-(heptafluoropropoxy)propionic acid, its salts and its acyl halides are used in the processing of fluorinated polymers. Diverse applications of 4-tert-butylphenol include for example production of epoxy resins and due to its specific properties manufacture of flexible plastics.

Link to the ECHA website: https://echa.europa.eu/-/four-new-substances-added-to-the-candidate-list

16

Jul 2019

1cc – Team news

On 16, Jul 2019 | In News @en | By Alisa Maier

Nina Farcic joined the 1cc team as a Monitoring Specialist in April 2019. She successfully completed her Master’s degree in Italian and Sociology in Croatia. In addition, Nina is a certified court interpreter for Italian and speaks fluent Croatian, English and German. After completing her studies, Nina worked in the customer service. She is looking forward to the new challenges at 1cc and supporting the monitoring team in the geographical scope of her linguistic and cultural expertise.

Philipp Bayha joined the 1cc team as a Reporting Specialist in July 2019. After graduating high school, he travelled abroad for six months to gather experience and improve his language skills. Philipp joined TechProtect GmbH, 1cc’s sister company, upon his return to Germany and embarked on an apprenticeship in industrial management. Upon successful completion, Philipp joined 1cc and was assigned to the reporting of WEEE and battery issues and the logistic coordination involved therein.

16

Jul 2019

EU-RoHS: Open Scope and new substance restrictions as of 22 July 2019

On 16, Jul 2019 | In News @en | By Alisa Maier

Phthalates become restricted substances:

The scope of the EU RoHS Directive (2011/65/EU) will change once again as of 22 July 2019. As implemented by amending Directive 2015/863, four new substances will be added to the list of restricted substances and their use to a maximum concentration of 0,1% in homogeneous material: .

  • Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP)
  • Butylbenzylphthalate (BBP)
  • Dibutylphthalate (DBP)
  • Diisobutylphthalate (DIBP)

All electrical and electronic equipment under the scope of the RoHS Directive have to comply with the substance restrictions of 10 instead of the initial six substances, if placed on the market for the first time after 21 July 2019.

New industry sectors affected for the first time:

In addition, the so-called “open scope” will apply as of 22 July 2019. This implies that all electrical and electronic equipment – which means equipment that is dependent on electric current or electromagnetic fields for at least one intended function – will be covered by the Directive’s scope (exclusions remain unchanged). Products that didn’t initially fall under one of the 10 categories, such as clothing, furniture and cables not dedicated to a specific category of equipment, will also have to comply with the substance restrictions as of the aforementioned date.

We would be happy to answer your queries regarding compliance to the RoHS Directive and compliance issues under the EU RoHS.

Please contact us at contact@1cc-consulting.com

16

Jul 2019

China RoHS II – Update on new requirements

On 16, Jul 2019 | In News @en | By Alisa Maier

Conformity assessment system published

Following the entry into force of China’s RoHS II management catalogue in March 2019, the new Chinese market surveillance authority SAMR (State Administration for Market Regulation) added another piece to the puzzle to China’s RoHS II by publishing the long-awaited rules for a conformity assessment system on May 17. 2019. The publication of the “Announcement of the MIIT on the Issuance of the Arrangement for the Implementation of the Conformity Assessment System for Restrictive Use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products” Is now available for reference.

New labelling requirements

The conformity assessment to be carried out by manufacturers involves two options: self-assessment, or the so-called self-declaration, or voluntary certification through an accredited institution (so-called voluntary certification of the State). Depending on the individual approach, new mandatory labelling “China Green Product” is required.

In addition and other than the requirement under the EU RoHS, the technical documents and the Certificate of Conformity have to be uploaded and published in the CNCA-database within  30 days following the placing on the Chinese market of the product(s).

What´s next?

The compliance management catalogue published in March 2018 is effective November 1. 2019. However, the date is yet to be ratified by the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Furthermore, the list of 6 restricted substances under China’s RoHS II (Pb, Hg, Cd, Cr VI, PBB and PBDE) will be amended in the future.

1cc will monitor the changes and requirements in China’s RoHS II to ensure you’re informed in due time.

16

Jul 2019

Update – the current statement of the ElektroG novella

On 16, Jul 2019 | In News @en | By Alisa Maier

End of June 2019, the associations Bitkom (Bundesverband Informationswirtschaft, Telekommunikation und neue Medien e.V.) and ZVEI (Zentralverband Elektrotechnik- und Elektroindustrie e.V.) submitted an official statement to the BMU (Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und nukleare Sicherheit) regarding the upcoming amendment to the ElektroG.

Among others, the subject of collection quota was addressed, as Germany is likely not to reach the collection rate of 65 percent, which will apply from 2019 onwards: Bitkom and ZVEI share the findings from surveys which see gaps in consumer information. They appreciate and support the idea of a nationwide information campaign. A respective market research identifying and measuring public awareness of the subject is planned to be launched by Stiftung EAR this year, so that consequently a respective information campaign could be developed.

With regard to the correct recording of the returning quantities and the calculation of the collection rates, according to Bitkom and ZVEI, the following aspects have not been adequately considered so far:

time period between placing on the market and return of the EEE, i.e. for some product groups the volume placed on the market is much higher than the take-back quantities;

weight of electrical and electronic equipment;

changes in the product scope, as the “open scope” is now applicable

“Alternative” disposal routes, implicating recycling paths other than regularly planned, i.e. robbing of cables, or disposal of WEEE in containers for mixed waste in private households.

16

Jul 2019

More products and more companies affected by copyright levies in Germany

On 16, Jul 2019 | In News @en | By Alisa Maier

Two important agreements on copyright levies were reached in May and June of this year: Levies for various consumer electronics devices were agreed upon and defined, and collecting societies and industry agreed assented to the new level of fees for USB sticks and memory cards.

It has always been the intention of the German collecting societies to make the whole product chain of privately used devices subject to levy, starting with MP3/4-player, mobile phones/ smartphones with larger displays, tablets, notebooks, PCs and finally smart TVs. This was effectively achieved, thereby placing various new product within the scope of the levy system.

All affected companies are now obliged to take unsolicited action: In order to reverse accruals, the corresponding sales-volumes since 2008, or 2012 must be reported considering that reduced tariffs apply to precedent periods if companies commit themselves to a contract as soon as possible. For the above-mentioned storage media in the period from 2012 onwards, the membership option will expire on July 31.

Subsequently, the ongoing processing of obligations essentially consists of adhering to deadlines, dates and formats. Last but not least, the charges must also be taken into account in the pricing to upstream suppliers and end customers. A charge of 30 cents per USB stick, or 12 euros for a multimedia hard disk makes a difference here.

For more information, please feel free to contact us at: copyright@1cc-consulting.com

16

Jul 2019

Ban of plastic bags – more countries join the fight against plastic pollution

On 16, Jul 2019 | In News @en | By Alisa Maier

As an environmental consulting company based in Germany, we’ve been monitoring the enthusiasm of our neighboring countries’ efforts to reduce, or ban plastic bags from supermarkets. In the EU, such measures are triggered by Directive (EC) 720/2015, which aims at reducing the amount of distributed plastic carrier bags. EU-member states are called upon to set individual, national frameworks to attain the goals defined under the said directive, e.g. by banning bags from retail shops completely, or by introducing mandatory fees for plastic bags.

Measures to curb the tremendous amount of waste(d) plastics have been introduced by various countries around the world. Amongst some of the efforts in the past twelve months:

  • July 2018: Chile adopts a law to ban the use of plastic bags in larger retail stores.
  • October 2018: Kenya publishes a law draft regarding plastic bags ban.
  • November 2018: The complete ban of plastic bags by 2020 passes the Austrian Council of Ministers.
  • February 2019: The European Commission updates a Proposal for a Directive on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, which includes light-weight plastic bags.
  • March 2019: Mexico City starts to ban plastic bags at retail shops.
  • April 2019: The Flemish Government approves further provisions on the plastic bags ban in Belgium.
  • May 2019: Nigeria’s House of Representatives passes a bill banning the use, manufacture, import and sale of plastic bags.
  • May 2019: The parliament of Iceland agrees on a ban of plastic bags starting 2021.
  • In Kazakhstan, amendments to the Environmental Code concerning plastic bags ban are likely to be adopted by December 2019.

Please do not hesitate to make use of 1cc’s global expertise in the field of waste and product compliance.