New EU-Circular Economy Action Plan published

On March 11, 2020, the European Commission published the Circular Economy Action Plan in the context of the European Green Deal. The plan includes measures along the entire life cycle of products with the aim of enhancing the EU-green economy and strengthening competitiveness while protecting the environment and giving consumers new rights. The plan comes with a set timeframe for legislative actions to be taken by the Commission in the near future.

The EU-Commission will propose legislation on sustainable product policy based on design criteria ranging from easier reuse, repair and recyclability, to the incorporation of as much recycled material as possible instead of primary raw material. Consumers will be empowered through the “right to repair” and obtaining access to reliable information on issues such as the reparability and durability of products.

The Commission will focus on industrial sectors that use the most resources and where the potential for circularity is high. These include amongst others: electronics and ICT, batteries and vehicles, packaging and plastics.

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Warning: Fictitious Company sending Payment Requests for Registration with the German Packaging Register

The Chamber of Commerce in Halle (Saale) has published a warning notice on 10 February 2020.

A fictitious company is currently fraudulently sending out requests to companies to pay €200 for registration with the German Packaging Register. The sender’s address is in Berlin.

In principle, the registration in the Packaging Register does not incur any costs. We urgently recommend companies not to respond to the letters and not to make any payments. Affected companies can also file a criminal complaint.

If you have any questions concerning Extended Producer Responsibility in Germany, please contact us: compliance@1cc-consulting.com  

France: Copyright levy obligations for foreign online seller confirmed

The recent court ruling No 88 of 5 February 2020 of the French Court of Cassation has confirmed the obligation to pay copyright levies also for foreign sellers. This is by no means a new development in the field. However, the ruling once again has proved that the question of the obligation in cross-border trade in goods repeatedly fades into the background and that this is a legally complex matter. Otherwise, the Luxembourg-based storage media supplier, which also distributes its products in France, would probably not have contested the judgment in favour of the French collecting society Copie France before the Court of Cassation.

There is a general consensus throughout Europe on the question of the obligation: when products subject to levies are sold from abroad directly to end consumers, e.g. via cross-border online trade, the levies for these products must be paid in the country of the end consumer. However, different products are usually subject to different taxes there than in the retailer’s country. This makes it difficult for online seller, platforms and shops to obtain an overview of the product-related obligations in detail. In addition, in some countries the obligation is not sufficiently justified by law. Where this is the case, the responsible authorities refer to the Opus ruling of the European Court of Justice from 2011.

In the Opus ruling (ECJ C 462/09), the European Court of Justice stated that the Member States must also ensure that copyright levies are paid when products subject to levy are purchased from abroad. This is a binding interpretation of the European law, and the national competent authorities and courts must therefore refer to it.

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

Hungary: Copyright levies for PCs added

The copyright levies of the complete scope of products liable to taxation is reviewed and reassessed in Hungary each year. There may be some major and some minor deviations in the tariff levels compared to the previous year. This year, however, there is a significant deviation: there are now levies on all types of PCs, in addition to all existing levies. The new levies range between 1.50 and 7.50 euros (converted), according to storage capacity of the device.

Very similar to the developments in other countries, this further completes the so-called product chain starting with MP3/4-player, mobile phones/smartphones and tablets, including the storage media usually used in or with these devices, i.e. mainly memory cards and hard disks. All this is already covered by copyright levies in Hungary. The modernisation and expansion of the levy system to include the new levies for PCs speaks for its vitality and may be in line with the current usage habits. It prepares the replacement of outdated formats such as audio cassettes.

The new Legal Notification No. 68, which established this important change, also forms the basis for the exemption of professional users from the levy liability. It gives them the possibility of exemption or retroactive refund of levies. A system of applying for exemptions and refunds has long been in place in the country.

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

ECHA publishes updated Candidate List

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has published the new REACH Candidate List on January 16, 2020: 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 205 substances.

The newly added substances have many different uses. For instance, diisohexyl phthalate is used as a plasticizer in a variety of products ranging from toys to building materials and packaging. 2-benzyl-2-dimethylamino-4′-morpholinobutyrophenone and 2-methyl-1-(4-methylthiophenyl)-2-morpholinopropan-1-one are both applied in paints and coatings and generally in polymer production. Perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS) and its salts are used in polymer production as well, but can also be found in electronics as a flame retardant in polycarbonate, according to the ECHA.

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