EU Directive 2017/2102 (RoHS): More Detailed Regulations for Spare Parts

As of 22 July 2019, electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) falling into category 11 of EU Directive 2011/65/EU and being placed on the market before that date, can still be made available on the market according to the new Directive 2017/2102 which entered into force on December 11, 2017. This means that the respective products of category 11 (EEE which is not covered by categories 1 to 10 and which was not in scope so far) can be sold off beyond July 22, 2019. Besides, Directive 2017/2102 has revised the provisions of Directive 2011/65/EU in some relevant aspects: • reuse of spare parts • extension of exemptions from substance restrictions • adapted date of decision regarding the renewal of an exemption • duration of exemptions for devices of category 11 Regarding the reuse of spare parts, the following applies: Beginning with the date at which devices newly placed on the market must comply with the substance restrictions, spare parts may be recovered from EEE already placed on the market before and used in EEE for a transition period of 10 years. Member states have to harmonize the new Directive with their national regulations until June 12, 2019. If you are interested in getting more information in detail, please contact us contact@1cc-consulting.com

1cc Webinar Regarding Changes in ElektroG

1cc will inform you about the latest changes in the German ElektroG. The Webinar will be held in English language. Participation is free of charge. If you are interested, please register in time as the number of participants per webinar is limited to 20 persons. “WEEE Germany – Final Amendments to the ElektroG“ Date: November 30, 2017, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM CET (in English Language) Language: English Speaker: Niurka Zúniga de Lang, Consultant and Compliance Specialist at 1cc GmbH Sign up Link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7577356232668271619

Too much revenue from copyright levies in Spain?

Since 1 August 2017 Spain’s new copyright levies system is in force. The new tariffs stated in the Royal Decree-Law 12/2017 as well as the product scope subject to copyright levies are transitory; because there are doubts about the adequacy of the levy amounts. According to the tariffs published, the new copyright system in Spain will collect between six and 10 times more than necessary – market researchers say. Copyright levies are aimed at compensating rightholders for the licence revenues they lose due to permitted private copying. Market studies ordered by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport to determine the appropriate amount for compensation for the years 2012 to 2015, carried out by independent auditors such as Mazars, KPMG and PWC, reveal a total of 51,729,168 euros during those four years. That means that the damage caused by private copying for music, audiovisual works and books, has an average of less than 13,000,000 euros per year. On the other hand, estimated sales of devices subject to a compensation reflect that the amount that will be collected annually with the new digital copyright levy is over 72 million euros. In other words, the new copyright system in Spain will collect between six and 10 times more than the damage actually caused by private copying today. If the market researchers’ assumptions are correct, companies should already be preparing, for example by setting up accruals. 1cc will be happy to advise.

1cc Webinars Regarding Changes in ElektroG

The amended German ElektroG foresees some important changes in Germany for producers of electrical and electronic equipment. One innovation refers to the so-called „open scope“. Furthermore, each producer is obligated to check the registration of his product portfolio for completeness in order to ensure that the transfer to the new equipment types is correct. With two new Webinars, 1cc will inform you about the latest changes in the German ElektroG. The Webinars will be held in German and English language. Participation is free of charge. If you are interested, please register in time as the number of participants per webinar is limited to 20 persons.   “WEEE Germany – Final Amendments to the ElektroG” Date: 23. November 2017, 09:00 – 10:00 CET (in German Language) Language: Deutsch Speaker: Niurka Zúniga de Lang, Consultant und Compliance Spezialist at 1cc GmbH Sign up Link: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/48588904343648515 other “WEEE Germany – Final Amendments to the ElektroG“ Date: November 30, 2017, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM CET (in English Language) Language: English Speaker: Niurka Zúniga de Lang, Consultant and Compliance Specialist at 1cc GmbH Sign up Link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7577356232668271619

WEEE Directive: Open Scope Coming in 2018

Businesses affected by the WEEE Directive 2012/19/EU will face a considerable update in the near future: starting from August 15, 2018, all EEE in scope of the Directive has to be classified according to the so called ‘open scope’. Firstly, the 10 current EEE categories will be replaced by the six new categories listed in Annex III of the WEEE Directive. From the open scope period onwards, any equipment that falls under the definition of EEE as set out in Article 3 (1) (a) is in scope. Secondly, several national compliance schemes and authorities in various EU countries are already working on a new structure. This new structure will consequently affect: • Registration categories (i.e. registration adjustments needed) • Declaration categories (i.e. several sub-categories) • Price lists of compliance schemes As we know from today, various requirements exist in the different EU Member States. Thus, the complexity for producers fulfilling their WEEE obligations will remain in the future, since no harmonization (i.e. several sub-categories) is expected among the different national compliance schemes. We will keep you in the loop! For more information, please contact us at info@1cc-consulting.com

New EU Regulation for Energy Labelling

The new EU Regulation 2017/1369 setting a framework for energy labelling entered into force as of August 1, 2017. Regulation EU 2017/1369 applies directly in all EU Member States.  The former EU Directive 2010/30/EU was repealed. EU Regulation 2017/1369 foresees some changes for distributor, producers, importers and dealers. The most important ones refer to the rescaling of the energy efficiency label and the implementation of a central product database. According to the new Regulation products shall only be labeled with the energy efficiency classes A to G. The currently existing classes A+, A++ and A+++ for further differentiation within class A will be omitted. Besides the information about the actual energy efficiency class, the full spectrum of classes has to be shown on the label. EU Member States will inform about the introduction of the new labels. It is expected that first products showing the new label will be available on the market in 2020. The new product database will contain a public part and a non-public compliance part with clearly specified accessibility and security requirements. The public part will contain all product related information which will enable the customer to better compare the products. The compliance part will only be accessible by market surveillance authorities and the Commission in order to perform a more efficient market surveillance within the EU.

1cc in the Panel of the International Congress for Battery Recycling (ICBR) 2017

This year’s International Congress for Battery Recycling (ICBR) will be held September 20-22, 2017 in Lisbon (Portugal). It will offer the opportunity to exchange among experts on the latest developments and major challenges of battery legislation and recycling. Meike Ruoff, Director of 1cc, will contribute to the panel discussion on the „Review of the Batteries Directive (End of Life)“ as panel member on Thursday September 21 at 11 am. Other panel members will be José Rizo Martin from the European Commission as well as representatives from EUCOBAT, the European association of battery schemes, and from the Belgium NPO Febelauto. Further information: http://www.icm.ch/icbr-2017

1cc Presents at Product Stewardship 2017 Conference in Florida

Johanna Terry will represent 1cc at this year’s Product Stewardship 2017 Conference in Tampa, Florida on November 2 – 4, 2017. The Product Stewardship Conference brings together product stewardship professionals and offers them an information platform regarding global safety, environmental and regulatory issues and product life cycle topics. On Thursday, November 2, from 11.30 AM – 12.00 PM, Johanna will give a presentation on “WEEE Legislation in Emerging Countries – Status and Future Stewardship Developments” Further Information: https://www.productstewards.org/Stewardship2017/learn/Pages/WEEE-Legislation-in-Emerging-Countries—Status-and-Future-Stewardship-Developments.aspx  

Copyright Levy system in Spain reintroduced – companies recommended to prepare

As a result of recent court decisions at European and National level, Spain has now reintroduced its copyright levy system as from 1 August 2017. Affected companies are strongly recommended to make appropriate preparations. Although there is no competent authority yet installed to support the administrative process right down to payments, manufacturers and importers of IT and CE equipment should take the new levies into account in their product pricing from now on. Thus, there is little time in which to implement the administrative process: the recommendation for affected companies is to identify the relevant tariffs per device and storage medium, to list Copyright levies on invoices as of 1 August 2017, to build accruals for future payments and to prepare reportings (as of end of September). Beyond that, there is the possibility to actively seek further clarification. Until 31 July 2017, representative individuals and organizations which are possibly affected, can participate in a previous public consultation (Consulta Pública previa), which does not provide any specific text or questionnaire to be commented, but is rather general. They can send their input to the competent Ministry via email: Propiedad.intelectual@mecd.es Please contact 1cc for any support: copyright@1cc-consulting.com

EU Directive RoHS 2011/65/EU: Industrial Monitoring and Control Instruments in Scope as of July 22, 2017

The transition period for Industrial Monitoring and Control Instruments will end: Beginning with July 22, 2017, Industrial Monitoring and Control Instruments will fall in the scope of EU Directive 2011/65/EU, and will have to fulfil the substance restrictions for lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) and cadmium. Further requirements relate to the assessment and declaration of conformity, CE marking and documentation obligations.