Business Alert - EU
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WEEE and RoHS transposition update In this report, Business Alert-EU reports on the status of implementation of Directive 2002/96/EC on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and Directive 2002/95/EC on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS) in four "new" Member States, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia and Lithuania. This report is part of a series of updates on the national laws of the EU Member States which are required to implement these Directives (please see sequence of previous issues for other updates). CZECH REPUBLIC. National Legislation -- The main implementing law for both Directives in the Czech Republic is Act No. 7/2005 Coll., amending Act 185/2001 Coll. (the general waste management law of the Czech Republic), which was published, and entered into force, on 6 January 2005. A further Decree 352/2005 was published under Act 185/2001 and entered into force on 15 September 2005; it is expected that further implementing measures will follow. The RoHS provisions will enter into force on 1 July 2006. WEEE provisions for the registration of producers, take-back and separate collection obligations, and financing obligations entered into force on 13 August 2005. Competent Bodies -- The legislation was transposed by the Czech Parliament (Act No 7/2005 Coll. http://www.psp.cz) and the Ministry of the Environment (Decree 352/2005 www.env.cz). The National Enforcement Bodies are the Czech Trade Inspection and the Czech Inspection of Environment for the RoHS provisions, and the Ministry of Environment for the WEEE provisions. Main requirements -- Collective schemes and producers are required to register (respectively, via the scheme or individually) with the List of Producers administered by the Ministry of Environment. The Czech WEEE legislation otherwise covers the same scope and requirements as the WEEE legislation subject to some exceptions (please see below). As for the Czech RoHS legislation, this is consistent with the RoHS Directive, imposing a ban on the use of six hazardous substances in EEE where an exemption does not apply from 1 July 2006. Notable differences with Directive -- The Czech Republic has obtained a derogation as regards the collection, recovery and reuse/recycling targets which will now only apply from the end of 2008. The Czech legislation provides that producer responsibilities can be fulfilled either individually, in groups, or by transfer of obligations to a collective scheme; however, for historical household WEEE, all producers must join a collective system. In addition the Czech legislation provides that where the visible fee is shown, it must be shown throughout the distribution chain to the end user. Schemes -- Five collective systems have been established under the WEEE legislation in the Czech Republic so far. Producers are obliged to join a collective scheme for historical household WEEE. The schemes are: Retela (www.retela.cz); Asekol (http://www.asekol.cz); Ekolamp (www.ekolamp.cz); Elektrowin (www.elektrowin.cz); and Rema (www.remasystem.cz). Private organisations providing RoHS testing are operating in the Czech Republic, such as SGS Czech Republic, spol. s r.o. (http://www.rohs.sgs.com/rohs_index/contact_us_rohs.htm#czech). Penalties --The general provisions on penalties in the general waste management law of the Czech Republic (Act 185/2001 Coll.) provide that failure to fulfil the duties relating to the management of selected products or wastes or equipment pursuant to Part Four (which includes the provisions on WEEE and RoHS) can attract a fine of up to 10,000,000 Czech Crowns. Breach of other duties stipulated by Act 185/2001 Coll. can attract a fine of up to 1,000,000 Czech Crowns. Higher fines may be invoked where the breach of the relevant provisions is deemed sufficiently serious or in light of aggravating circumstances. SLOVENIA. National Legislation --The Rules on limitations on and prohibition of placing on the market or use of certain hazardous substances and preparations of 11 January 2005 brought the RoHS Directive into Slovenian legislation. The Rules take effect from 1 July 2006. Decree 4871, published on 4 November 2004, transposed the WEEE Directive. In addition, an amendment to this Decree, published on 10 June 2005, introduced a two-step registration process. Obligations under the Decree have applied from 13 August 2005. However, the date for meeting the collection and recovery targets has been delayed until the end of 2007. Competent Bodies -- The RoHS legislation was transposed and will be enforced by the Ministry of Health, National Chemicals Bureau (http://www2.gov.si/mz/mz-splet.nsf). Decree 4871 was transposed and is enforced by the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (www.sigov.si/mop/en/). Main requirements -- The Main requirements of Decree 4871 include producer registration, reporting, treatment and financing duties. In addition, producers who are not complying through a collective scheme must also provide a guarantee. Retailers and distributors have take-back and information obligations. The requirements of the Slovenian RoHS legislation are consistent with the RoHS Directive, imposing a ban on the use of six hazardous substances in EEE where an exemption does not apply from 1 July 2006. Schemes -- Three major WEEE collective schemes are being set up. These are ZEOS (www.zeos.si), Slopak (www.slopak.si) and Interseroh (www.interseroh-gruppe.de). There is no prescribed method for demonstrating RoHS compliance as yet. No bodies or laboratories have been set up which will certify that the products are up to the standards required by the law although international laboratories provide testing services. Notable differences with Directive -- Decree 4871 provides that the recovery, reuse and recycling targets shall apply from 31 December 2007, rather than from 31 December 2006. The use of the visible fee is optional until and prohibited after 13 February 2011 for EEE categories 2-10 and 13 February 2013 for EEE category 1. Penalties -- For the Slovenian RoHS legislation, penalties are set in the Chemicals Act of 12 November 2003 in Article 66 (fines range from approximately EUR 2,000 - EUR 83,000). Penalties for Decree 4871 include the producers' duties being performed by environmental inspectors from the Inspectorate for Environmental Protection and a possible ban on putting EEE on the market. No fines are specified under the legislation. SLOVAKIA. National Legislation -- Slovakia implemented Act 733/2004, which amended the Waste Act 223/2001 and which was adopted on 2 December 2004 for both the RoHS and WEEE legislation. It entered into force on 1 January 2005. Further legislation was adopted in the form of: Ministerial Decree 208/2005 regarding the management of WEEE of 29 April 2005 which contains the details of the RoHS exemptions (entered into force on 1 June 2005); Government Ordinance 388/2005 of 17 August 2005 which sets out targets for the collection and recovery of WEEE (entered into force on 1 September 2005); and Ministerial Decree 359/2005 of 3 August 2005 on contributions to the recycling fund (entered into force on 13 August 2005). Provisions with regard to RoHS are to enter into force on 1 July 2006. Competent Bodies -- The legislation was transposed by the Slovak Parliament (www.nrsr.sk), with the Ministerial Decrees being transposed by the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic (www.lifeenv.gov.sk). The national enforcement body for RoHS is not yet decided but there will probably be a national control institute. The national enforcement body for the WEEE legislation is the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic (www.enviro.gov.sk). Main requirements -- Every producer placing EEE on the Slovak market had to be registered with the Register held by the Ministry of the Environment by 30 June 2005 (no fee for registration with the Ministry). Otherwise the provisions of the Slovak WEEE legislation correspond largely to the requirements of the WEEE Directive. The requirements of Slovak legislation regarding RoHS correspond to the requirements of the RoHS Directive. Schemes - Collective schemes for WEEE include: Envidom (www.envidom.sk); SEWA (www.sewa.sk); Ekolamp (www.ekolamp.sk); and Etalux (www.etalux.sk). Underwriters Laboratories Inc provides RoHS Compliance testing services from Poland to neighbouring countries, including Slovakia (www.ul-europe.com). Notable differences with Directive - Differences with the WEEE Directive include the fact that the Slovak legislation provides for a recycling fund which requires a quarterly contribution from producers, based on the difference between the recovery target and their actual recovery rate. Furthermore, the take-back of household WEEE is only mandatory if the retailer is also a producer. In Slovakia seven types of container are set up at municipal collection sites, to be financed by producers and taken back by producers. The Slovak legislation provides that a guarantee is only required from individual producers and an independent clearing house is set up which allocates the collection for individual WEEE categories, individual producers and collective systems and co-ordinates the collection and treatment of WEEE. Slovakia has been granted a derogation of two years for meeting the collection, recovery and reuse/recycling targets. The applicable deadline is now 31 December 2008. Penalties -- The Slovak RoHS and WEEE legislation provides for penalties of up to 5,000,000 Slovak crowns. Higher fines may be invoked where the breach of the relevant provisions is deemed sufficiently serious or in light of aggravating circumstances. LITHUANIA. National Legislation -- Lithuania implemented the RoHS legislation via Order No V-258 of the Minister of Health of 22 April 2004. The WEEE legislation has been adopted into Lithuanian national law via the following series of legislation: Amendment No. X-279 to the Law on Waste Management, adopted on 28 June 2005; Order of Minister of Environment No. D1-481 on Rules on Management of WEEE, adopted on 10 September 2004; Government Resolution No. 1252 on National Strategic Waste Management Plan, adopted on 5 October 2004; Order of Minister of Environment No. D1-555 on Rules on Registration of producers and importers, adopted on 17 November 2005; Government Resolution No. 61 on Rules on Financial Guarantees, adopted on 19 January 2006; Government Resolution No. 18 on Rules on Licensing of organisations of producers and importers, adopted on 11 January 2006; and the Order of Minister of Environment No. D1-57 on Rules on Annual reports of organisations of producers and importers, adopted on 30 January 2006. An amendment to the Administrative Code, which deals with penalties, is still to be adopted. Competent Bodies -- The RoHS legislation was transposed and is to be enforced by the Ministry of Health (http://www.sam.lt/en/). The Ministry of Environment (http://www.am.lt) is responsible for the transposition and enforcement of the Lithuanian WEEE legislation. Main requirements -- Under the Lithuanian WEEE legislation, producers are required to register with the Environmental Protection Agency. Additional requirements are that: distributors are to show the visible fee if this is requested by a producer; retailers are to offer 1:1 take-back systems; and municipalities are to run collection centres. Producers can take back WEEE themselves (in which case a financial guarantee is required) or meet their obligations through an individual or collective compliance system. The Lithuanian RoHS legislation follows the requirements of the RoHS Directive. Schemes - The collective WEEE schemes in Lithuania have not yet been finalised. Compliance schemes which have indicated that they are preparing a collective scheme are INFOBALT (http://www.infobalt.lt/english/), Zaliasis taskas (http://www.greendot.lt/) and CECED (www.ceced.org). Laboratories which advertise RoHS testing facilities for Lithuania include ITS Caleb Brett Lithuania Laboratory (http://www.intertek-cb.com/section_05/brochures/Republic%20of%20Lithuania%20LETTER%20Size.pdf.). Notable differences with Directive - Lithuania has a derogation of two years for the collection, recycling and recovery/reuse targets in the WEEE Directive. The deadline which now applies is therefore 31 December 2008. Penalties - Ministry officials are not yet able to specify the applicable penalties for non-compliance with the RoHS regulations. The penalties under the Lithuanian WEEE legislation are also to be decided, as the draft Amendment to the Administrative Code is currently before Parliament and changes are expected. For information purposes, the anticipated penalties include (fines shown in euros) fines of EUR 300 -- EUR 29,000 for breaches of the legislation, including failure to register, failure to comply with reporting requirements and failure to provide treatment for WEEE. These may, of course, change. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
