European Union (Making Available on the Market of Pyrotechnic Articles) Regulations 2015

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 174/2015

CONTENTS

Regulations

PART 1

General Provisions

1. Citation and commencement

2. Interpretation

3. Application

4. Making available on market of pyrotechnic articles

5. Categorisation

6. Exception for trade fairs, exhibitions, demonstrations and for research, development and testing

7. Restrictions on sale or supply of pyrotechnic articles

PART 2

Obligations of Economic Operators

8. Obligations of manufacturers

9. Traceability

10. Labelling of pyrotechnic articles other than pyrotechnic articles for vehicles

11. Labelling of pyrotechnic articles for vehicles

12. Obligations of importers

13. Obligations of distributors

14. Cases in which obligations of manufacturers apply to importers and distributors

15. Identification of economic operators

PART 3

Conformity of Pyrotechnic Article

16. Presumption of conformity of pyrotechnic articles

17. Conformity assessment procedures

18. EU declaration of conformity

19. Rules and conditions for affixing CE marking and other markings

PART 4

Notification of Conformity Assessment Bodies

20. Designation of Minister as notifying authority

21. Notification

22. Operational obligations of notified bodies

23. Register of pyrotechnic articles and fees

PART 5

Union Market Surveillance, Control of Pyrotechnic Articles Entering Union Market and Union Safeguard Procedure

24. Union market surveillance and control of pyrotechnic articles entering Union market

25. Procedure for dealing with pyrotechnic articles presenting risk at national level

26. Compliant pyrotechnic articles which present risk to health or safety

PART 6

Inspections and Surveillance

27. Inspections and surveillance

28. Authorised officers

29. Forfeiture orders

30. Articles liable to endanger health and safety of persons

31. Measures entailing refusal or restriction

32. Service of notifications

33. Right of appeal against notification or other measure

34. Offences and penalties

35. Seizure and disposal of unsafe pyrotechnic articles

36. Transitional — lawful importation of fireworks and pyrotechnic articles before certain dates

37. Transitional — pyrotechnic articles placed on market under Regulations of 2010

38. Revocations

Schedule 1

Categorisation of Pyrotechnic Articles

Schedule 2

Registration Number

Schedule 3

Essential Safety Requirements

Schedule 4

EU Declaration of Conformity (No. XXXX)

Schedule 5

Register format

S.I. No. 174 of 2015

EUROPEAN UNION (MAKING AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET OF PYROTECHNIC ARTICLES) REGULATIONS 2015

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 8th May, 2015.

I, FRANCES FITZGERALD, Minister for Justice and Equality, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving effect to Directive 2013/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 20131 , and Commission Implementing Directive 2014/58/EU of 16 April 20142 , hereby make the following regulations:

PART 1

General Provisions

Citation and commencement

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Union (Making Available on the Market of Pyrotechnic Articles) Regulations 2015.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3) and Regulations 36 and 37, these Regulations come into operation on 1 July 2015.

(3) Paragraphs (3) to (6) of Regulation 9 and paragraphs (2) to (4) of Regulation 23 come into operation on 17 October 2016.

Interpretation

2. (1) In these Regulations—

“ammunition” means projectiles and propelling charges and blank ammunition used in portable firearms, other guns and artillery;

“authorised officer” means a person appointed under Regulation 28;

“CE marking” means a marking by which the manufacturer indicates that the pyrotechnic article is in conformity with the applicable requirements set out in Union harmonisation legislation providing for its affixing in accordance with Regulation 19;

“Commission” means European Commission;

“competent authority in the State” means the Minister;

“conformity assessment” means the process demonstrating whether the essential safety requirements of these Regulations relating to a pyrotechnic article have been fulfilled;

“conformity assessment body” means a body that performs conformity assessment activities including calibration, testing, certification and inspection;

“Directive” means Directive 2013/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 20131;

“distributor” means any person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or the importer, who makes a pyrotechnic article available on the market;

“economic operators” means the manufacturer, the importer and the distributor;

“firework” means a pyrotechnic article intended for entertainment purposes;

“harmonised standard” means harmonised standard with the meaning of Article 2 (1) (c) of Regulation (EU) No. 1025/2012 of 25 October 20123 ;

“importer” means a person established within the Union who places a pyrotechnic article from a third country on the Union market;

“making available on the market” means any supply of a pyrotechnic article for distribution, consumption or use on the Union market in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge;

“manufacturer” means a person who manufactures a pyrotechnic article, or has such an article designed or manufactured, and markets that pyrotechnic article under his name or trademark;

“market surveillance authority” means the Minister;

“Minister” means Minister for Justice and Equality;

“net equivalent quantity” (NEQ) means the net explosive content (NEC), the net explosive quantity (NEQ) or the net equivalent mass (NEM) and is the total mass of the explosives substances without the packaging, casings or other non-explosive material;

“notifying authority” means the Minister;

“notified body” means a body notified to the Commission to carry out conformity assessment procedures that has been granted notification—

(a) under Regulation 21, or

(b) by another Member State, and whose appointment has been notified to the Commission under Article 29 of the Directive;

“person with specialist knowledge” means a person authorised by the competent authority in the State, to handle or to handle and use, in the State, category F2, F3, F4 fireworks, theatrical pyrotechnic articles, category P2 pyrotechnic articles and category P1 pyrotechnic articles for vehicles, including airbag and seatbelt pre-tensioner systems, except where those pyrotechnic articles for vehicles have been incorporated in a vehicle or a detachable vehicle part;

“placing on the market” in relation to a pyrotechnic article, means the first making available of the pyrotechnic article on the Union market;

“private dwelling” does not include a part of a private dwelling which for the time being is a registered premises, a store or a magazine within the meaning of the Explosives Act 1875 (c. 17);

“pyrotechnic article” means any article containing explosive substances or an explosive mixture of substances designed to produce heat, light, sound, gas or smoke or a combination of such effects through self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions;

“pyrotechnic articles for vehicles” means components of safety devices in vehicles which contain pyrotechnic substances used to activate these or other devices;

“recall” means any measure aimed at achieving the return of a pyrotechnic article that has already been made available to the end-user;

“Regulation (EC) No. 765/2008” means Regulation (EC) No. 765/2008 of 9 July 20084 ;

“Regulations of 2010” means European Communities (Placing on the Market of Pyrotechnic Articles) Regulations 2010 ( S.I. No. 1 of 2010 );

“technical specification” means a document that prescribes technical requirements to be fulfilled by a pyrotechnic article;

“theatrical pyrotechnic article” means a pyrotechnic article designed for indoor or outdoor stage use, including film and television productions or similar use;

“Union” means European Union;

“Union harmonisation legislation” means any Union legislation harmonising the conditions for the marketing of products;

“withdrawal” means any measure aimed at preventing a pyrotechnic article in the supply chain from being made available on the market.

(2) In these Regulations, a reference to a pyrotechnic article of a particular category shall be construed in accordance with Schedule 1.

(3) A word or expression which is used in these Regulations and which is also used in the Directive has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Directive.

Application

3. (1) Subject to paragraph (2), these Regulations apply to all pyrotechnic articles.

(2) These Regulations do not apply to:

(a) pyrotechnic articles intended for non-commercial use by the Defence Forces, the Garda Siochána or emergency services;

(b) equipment falling within the scope of the European Union (Marine Equipment) Regulations 2014 ( S.I. No. 540 of 2014 );

(c) pyrotechnic articles intended for use in the aerospace industry;

(d) percussion caps intended specifically for toys falling within the scope of the European Communities (Safety of Toys) Regulations 2011 ( S.I. No. 14 of 2011 );

(e) explosives falling within the scope of—

(i) the European Communities (Placing on the Market and Supervision of Explosives for Civil Uses) Regulations 1995 ( S.I. No. 115 of 1995 ) as amended by the European Communities (Placing on the Market and Supervision of Explosives for Civil Uses) (Amendment) Regulations 2005 ( S.I. No. 546 of 2005 ), or

(ii) the European Communities (System for the Identification and Traceability of Explosives for Civil Uses) Regulations 2009 ( S.I. No. 133 of 2009 ) as amended by the European Union (System for the Identification and Traceability...