REACH Candidate List: Extended to 151 substances

On December 16, 2013, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has included seven new substances in the REACH candidate list which now contains 151 substances. For the seven new and the previously identified candidate substances, information requirements according to REACH article 7 and 33 are obligatory:

If a candidate substance is present in an article in a concentration above 0,1 mass percent, suppliers of this article – manufacturer, importer or distributor- have to inform their direct customers. In addition, manufacturers and importers of articles have to notify ECHA about the substance according to article 7, if

• a candidate substance is present in the article above 0,1 mass percent, and
• the total amount of this substance in the article totals more than 1 ton/year, and
• the substance has not been registered at ECHA for that use.

If all three criteria are met, the manufacturer or importer has to submit a notification to ECHA within the following six months after the most recent update of the candidate list. For the above mentioned seven new candidate substances, the deadline is June 16, 2014.

Link to candidate list: http://echa.europa.eu/de/candidate-list-table

Further substances are expected to be put on the list until summer. 22 substances out of this list are or will be subject to authorization as they have been added to REACH Annex XIV already.

Reclassification of LED lamps

The German Stiftung ear has reclassified LED lamps. This type of lamps is no longer allocated to category 5a (glow-discharge lamps that can be used in private households), but to 5b (other lighting fixtures or devices for distributing or controlling light that can be used in private households).

Waste from lighting equipment is now collected together with small household equipment, tools etc. As a consequence, LED producers are responsible to participate in the recycling of a mix of e-waste which is much cheaper for them and where they have presumably lower market shares in terms of total weight. Moreover, parameters to determine the financial guarantee are also more favorable to the producers.

New: Copyright Levies for PC in Germany

After years of negotiations and disputes, there are now Copyright Levies for PC in Germany. The rates are between 3,20 Euro and up to 13,20 Euro per unit, depending on the devices’ features, the use and the contractual situation of the vendor. Right now it may be most important to know, that these levies apply with retroactive effect as of 1 January 2011. In order to realize a 20% discount on the rates for the precedent years 2011-2013, each vendor is only allowed to sign the general agreement for the industry until 31 March 2014. For the future sales, so future reporting and billing periods, it is of course possible to contract at any time.

Furthermore, the binding agreement regarding copyright levies for PCs in Germany takes into account the ECJ Padawan/SGAE–judgement of 21 October 2010. This means that the professional use of PC is  considered by significantly reduced rates and by ensuring the refund for vendors in the supply chain and for professional end users. The verification of professional use in the supply chain, however, will previously be a key task in the future.

The new tariffs shall apply until at least 2016 with the following rates:

Thus, the long dispute between industry and the German collecting society ZPÜ (Zentralstelle für private Überspielungsrechte) has made one step forward. At the same time it has to be underlined that this applies only to the period as of 2011, according to the revised (new) German Copyright Law. Claims, verdicts and proposals prior to 2007 as well as in the so-called transition period from 2008 until 2010 are not directly affected by this new agreement. For the period before 2011, there are still negotiations whether or not PCs are taxable at all, there are different industry positions (with separate agreements), diverse tariff proposals, discounts and arbitral verdicts.

1cc is always ready to support you with all necessary information and services.

CES 2014: Technology Trends and Regulatory Requirements

This year 1cc was present with its own booth at CES in Las Vegas, accompanied by its partner TechProtect GmbH. The booth was part of the German industry representation, the German Pavilion at Las Vegas Hotel. It was intensely frequented by U.S., Asian and international trade show visitors and by the exhibitors of the Show, looking for advice in environmental and copyright legislation when exporting their products to the European markets. As CES is the world’s leading convention for consumer electronics and home appliances, most exhibitors and visitors have to deal with the numerous challenges set by particular issues of private copying levies, take-back of waste electric and electronic equipment and/or substance bans. Accordingly, the main topics of conversation were the current WEEE- and RoHS recasts and the highly controversial matter of copyright levies on TVs, Tablets, Mobile Phones and Hard Disks in Europe; this topic is by no means unknown in the United States, only the levies are not as high as in European countries and the overall scope is comparatively narrow.

1cc is looking back on four successful days at CES and is looking forward to new interesting projects with American companies. For further information on our consulting and compliance services contact compliance@1cc-consulting.com.

K&L and 1WEEE Services have been merged to 1cc GmbH

On September 6, 2013, the affiliated companies of K&L and 1WEEE Services have been merged to 1cc GmbH after several years of successful cooperation.

Since May 2013 already, we have been operating out of our new common office site in Holzgerlingen. Simultaneously, the opening of our U.S. subsidiary 1WEEE Services Corp. in Dallas/Texas enhances our international presence, offering especially our U.S. based clients an even better availability.

You can visit our new online presence at www.1cc-consulting.com. In our News section, we will inform you in the future about new developments at 1cc GmbH and provide you with interesting information related to environmental and copyright levies legislation as well as to our compliances services.

www.1cc-consulting.com

Submitting CLP Notifications

Based on the transition period regulated in the accession treaty to the EU, Croatian companies had to fulfil the notification requirements according to Article 40 of the CLP regulation until 1 August 2013. Until the end of this deadline, 12 companies have submitted more than 3000 notifications to the Classification and Labelling (C&L) Inventory which means an average of more than 250 notifications per company.

The obligation to notify applies to all substances that are subject to registration (manufactured or imported > 1 ton) as well as to manufactured or imported substances classified as dangerous < 1 ton as such or in a mixture. It does not apply to substances where the information on classification and labelling has already been submitted as a part of the registration dossier.

Although the obligation for notification to the C&L inventory applies already since 1 December 2010, many EU based companies, especially importers of substances that are not subject to registration or that still benefit from an extended deadline, are not aware of this requirement at all.

Companies not acting in accordance with this regulation may be fined as there are direct sanctions in place in the member states. In Germany, e.g. up to € 50.000 can be fined in case a notification is not submitted at all, not in time, not correctly, incomplete, not in the format requested or not updated according to harmonized classification decisions.

Notification is free of charge and can be easily submitted via REACH-IT.

New EU Ecodesign Regulations for Vacuum Cleaners published

The EU Commission has officially published two ecodesign regulations for vacuum cleaners on July 13, 2013: Commission Regulation (EU) No 666/2013 of 8 July 2013 implementing Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and the Council with regard to ecodesign requirements for vacuum cleaners, and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 665/2013 of 3 May 2013 supplementing Directive 2010/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to energy labelling of vacuum cleaners. Both regulations will come into force on August 2, 2013.

According to Regulation No 666/2013, vacuum cleaners have to follow specific requirements related to energy consumption, rated input power, dust pick up on carpet, dust pick up on hard floor, dust re-emission, sound power level, durability of the hose and operational motor lifetime. In addition, manufacturers, their authorised representatives, or importers are required to follow defined information obligations.

Smartphones – high-risk area for Copyright Levies

Welcome Croatia

After the accession treaty has been signed on 9 December 2011,  today, 1 July, Croatia has become the 28th member state of the European Union.

We would like to welcome this new member state: Dobrodošli!

The accession to the EU means in particular, that European legislation will now apply in Croatia. EU regulations apply directly on the date of accession.  However, for single requirements affecting Croation based enterprises, transition periods have already been foreseen in the accession treaty.

EU directives regulating e.g. the single market concept will have to be transposed by Croatia now. The single market that offers free movement of goods in the EU and is regulated by CE directives will then be extended to Croatia as well.

Further directives as e.g. on Waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE, 2002/96/EC) or on Copyright levies (2001/29/EC) will result in national schemes, processes and collecting societies based on the requirements of the EU directives.

EU Regulation for Computers and Computer Servers published today

The European Commission has published today Commission Regulation (EU) No 617/2013 of 26 June 2013, implementing Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to ecodesign requirements for computers and computer servers. The new Implementing Measure (IM) will come into force on July 17, 2013. In the scope of Regulation No 617/2013 are the following products that can be powered directly from the mains alternating current (AC) including via an external or internal power supply:

• Desktop computers
• Integrated desktop computers
• Notebook computers
• Notebook computers (including tablet computers, slate computers and mobile thin clients)
• Desktop thin clients
• Workstations
• Mobile workstations
• Small-scale servers
• Computer servers

According to Article 3, ecodesign requirements for computers and computer servers are set out in Annex II. Ecodesign requirements will become effective in three steps: from the entry into force of the regulation, from 1 July 2014 and from 1 January 2016. Desktop computer, integrated desktop computer and notebook computer have to fulfill the requirements for lowest power state and have to offer a power management function as of the entry into force of the regulation.