Implementation of RoHS directive in the member states is getting off the ground…very slowly

After Estonia has published the new national RoHS legislation already in 2011, some countries like Austria, Latvia or UK have followed until the end of 2012 and adapted the new legislation in time. According to the directive 2011/65/EU, published on 1 July 2011, the transposition should have been taken place until 2 January 2013, i.e. many member states are late.

Although the requirements set by the directive are almost clear and most discussions have been handled on EU-level, there might be slight changes within the different national legislations. Especially the interpretation of the transition period for 2019 or labelling requirements show a variety amongst the legislations that have already been published.

54 new candidate substances added on list of SVHC

Effective December 19, 2012, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has added another 54 substances to the candidate list of substances of very high concern (svhc) after the committee of the member states of the European Union had taken a respective decision. The list now contains 138 substances in total.

Within the publication of substances at ECHA’s website, the information requirements of article 33 do apply straight away. Notifications according to article 7.2 have a 6 months transition period.

The full list of substances is displayed here:
http://echa.europa.eu/de/candidate-list-table

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

K&L offices are closed during Christmas Holidays, from December 24, 2012, until January 1, 2013.

We thank you for your confidence and are looking forward to working with you in 2013.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Source: ®Wilhelmine Wulff/www.pixelio.de

Ecodesign Directive: New Working Plan 2012-2014

The Working Plan 2012 to 2014 under the Ecodesign Directive has been finalized by the European Commission. Within the new Working Plan, the Commission has identified 12 product groups to be considered between 2012 and 2014 for the adoption of Implementing Measures. The listed products use energy or affect indirectly energy consumption. The new Working Plan prioritizes the following product groups:

• Window products
• Steam boilers (< 50MW) • Power cables • Enterprises servers, data storage and ancillary equipment • Smart appliances/meters • Wine storage appliances (c.f. Ecodesign regulation 643/2009) • Water-related products Additionally, the Commission has published a list of conditional product groups: • Positive displacement pumps • Fractional horse power motors under 200W • Heating controls • Lighting controls/systems • Thermal insulation products for buildings Concerning the conditional product groups, the launch of a preparatory study depends on the outcome of ongoing regulatory processes or reviews.

CE marking for RoHS II

The RoHS II legislation is just around the corner. In order to be compliant when the legislation, i.e. the national transpositions enters into force, most companies have already started or even finished the implementation of the new requirements of RoHS II legislation.

But there is one requirement that companies have to wait until January 3: The CE marking for RoHS II.

Based on the regulation 765/2008, the CE marking is only allowed on products when the specific legislation applies. Although the RoHS II directive was already published in 2011, it does not apply to manufacturers of EEE yet as the directive is addressed to the member states. The national transpositions then will require the CE marking including the declaration of conformity for RoHS II.

As most devices carry the CE marking anyway (for proof of compliance with other EU directives), there is no change of the marking. However, the directive 2011/65/EU shall not be included in the declaration of conformity before January 3, 2013.

New products could be liable to taxation automatically

The global market for tablets is growing continuously and leads to high revenues at the expense of other technologies. According to market researchers, Apple’s iPad shows best chances to rule the tablet market for the foreseeable future, but many others follow. Almost every supplier of consumer electronics has established such a device in his product range. This may be due to the fact that tablets are becoming popular for business as well as for private end-customers. Thus, questions on the regulatory level arise: Are these devices subject to copyright levies, in which countries and at what rate?

A tablet only completes the product chain from a MP3/4-player, via a Smartphone, a PC up to smart TVs with internet connection and content storage. All these devices are part of our daily life. Therefore, expectations arise from different sides, i.e. the levy systems in the different countries are getting prepared for the new technology. In other words: they are charging levies for tablets.

There are only few countries which have already defined a tariff precisely for innovative devices like tablets and/or smart TVs. However, this does not necessarily mean that tablets in other countries are not levied at all or that a new specific tariff has to be established; the liability of a tablet may as well refer to its internal HDD, its storage capacity, its functions, the connecting possibilities to another device, a printer for example or other. Therefore, every company has to be aware of the fact that tablets might, tariff-wise, be added to an already existing product category and, thus, be levied with immediate effect.

Therefore, companies have to monitor the developments precisely in order to gain legal certainty and set up financial plans.

K&L contributes as author for the Speciality Chemicals Magazine

Based on our expertise in environmental legislation, K&L was asked to publish an article in the Speciality Chemicals Magazine.

In the online October issue, the legal tricks and tracks in a SIEF, a substance information exchange forum, were highlighted. Companies that are participating in Joint registration according to the REACH regulation were given support and advice how to sail around the different cliffs and obstacles in this obligatory cooperation of a SIEF.

http://www.specchemonline.com/articles/view/tricks-and-traps-when-working-in-siefs

New Eco-design regulation for household tumble driers

Quelle: ® Thommy Weiss / PIXELIO - www.pixelio.de

The most eco-friendly method of laundry drying is probably the one shown in the picture. As not everybody within the EU has access to this lovely alp, the EU commission has published the regulation (EU) 932/2012 on eco-design requirements for household tumble driers today. It shall apply from 1 November 2013.

The new specific eco-design requirements however will have to be implemented within two steps until 1 November 2014 and first November 2015. The regulation sets maximum figures for an energy efficiency index in Annex I and II of the regulation. In addition, the CE marking is required in order to proof compliance with the purposes of this regulation.

Get more information:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2012:278:0001:0010:EN:PDF

Lead restricted in Jewellery

By publication of the regulation 836/2012 on September 18, a restriction of lead in Jewellery was added to the Annex XVII of the REACH regulation.
From October 9, 2013, lead and its compounds is not allowed to be present in in any individual part of jewellery articles that are placed on the market if the concentration of lead in such a part is equal to or greater than 0,005 % by weight.
The restriction does not apply to “old” jewellery that has been produced before December 10, 1961. Exemptions are granted for crystal glass, internal components in watch timepieces that are inaccessible to consumers and non-synthetic or reconstructed precious and semiprecious stones that contain lead naturally and enamels.

The restriction is based on the dossier according to Annex XV that was submitted by France in April 2010. It showed that repeated exposition of lead can result in severe and irreversible neurobehavioral and neurodevelopmental effects.

In addition to the restriction of Lead, the Annex XVII had recently changes for mercury, phenylmercury compounds and cadmium.

REACH is a steadily moving legislation.

Snapshot IFA 2012: Technology Trends – Smart TVs

Focusing on new trends of consumer electronic – Smart TVs are obviously conquering the living rooms with new functions and improved display qualities. After the boom of LCD- and plasma-TVs, the CE-industry has improved the existing solutions: 3D without eyeglasses, gesture remote control, high definition for every screen size, internet connection, content storage, etc. Watching TV enters into a new era with smart TVs. Experts believe this will mainly affect consumers’ behaviour with TV-devices. It creates a totally new market to connect with people, to share content and also to combine smart-devices with each other.

What impact these and other technologies have when entering the market and which sales targets must be reached has often been studied even months before new products are launched. But what obligations and requirements manufacturers have to fulfil in that smarter world? What impact will smart-devices have on copyright levies?

Especially Germany has already very high levy claims for these devices, so that manufacturers should be prepared to deal with that topic. But not only in Germany, also in some other countries, levies for TVs are in force and/or claimed. Even without integrated hard disk, TVs will be liable to taxation.