European Union (Restriction of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Regulations 2012

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 513/2012
• Year: 2012

INDEX

Part I

Preliminary and General

1. Citation

2. Purpose of Regulations

3. Interpretation of Regulations

4. Scope of Regulations

Part II

Prohibitions and Obligations on Economic Operators

5. Prohibition of specified hazardous substances

6. Manufacturers’ Obligations — General

7. EU Declaration of Conformity and CE Marking

8. Compliance procedures for series production

9. Register of EEE

10. Identifying EEE and manufacturer

11. Non-compliant EEE

12. Co-operation with National Authorities

13. Authorised Representatives

14. Importer Responsibility General

15. Non-compliant EEE

16. Information identifying importers

17. Monitoring of EEE

18. Retention of documentation and co-operation with authorities

19. Duty in certain circumstances to comply with manufacturers' duties in place of importers’ duties

20. Distributor Responsibility General

21. Non-compliant EEE

22. Co-operation with National Authorities

23. Duty in certain circumstances to comply with manufacturer's duties in place of distributor's duties

24. Identification of economic operators

Part III

Functions of the Agency

25. Enforcement

26. Market Surveillance Activities

27. Functions of the Agency

28. Procedure in relation to directions of the Agency

29. Appeals against directions of the Agency

30. Injunctions

31. Authorised Persons

32. Offences

33. Prosecutions and Penalties

34. Commencement

35. Revocation

SCHEDULE 1

CATEGORIES OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT TO WHICH THESE REGULATIONS APPLY

SCHEDULE 2

ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT TO WHICH THESE REGULATIONS DO NOT APPLY

SCHEDULE 3

CATEGORIES OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT WITH SPECIAL RULES OF APPLICATION

S.I. No. 513 of 2012

EUROPEAN UNION (RESTRICTION OF CERTAIN HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES IN ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT) REGULATIONS 2012

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 28th December, 2012.

I, PHIL HOGAN, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, 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 2011/65/EU1 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2011 on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment hereby make the following Regulations:

PART I

PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Union (Restriction of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Regulations 2012.

Purpose of Regulations

2. The purposes for which these Regulations are made include the purpose of giving effect to provisions of European Parliament and Council Directive 2011/65/EU2 on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment with a view to contributing to the protection of human health and the environment, including the environmentally sound recovery and disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment.

Interpretation of Regulations

3. (1) In these Regulations, save where the context otherwise requires—

“Act of 1996” means the Waste Management Act 1996 (No. 10 of 1996);

“active implantable medical device” means any active implantable medical device within the meaning of point (c) of Article 1(2) of Council Directive 90/385/EEC3 of 20 June 1990 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to active implantable medical devices;

“Agency” means the Environmental Protection Agency established under Section 19 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 (No. 7 of 1992);

“authorised person” means a person who is appointed in writing by the Minister, a local authority, the Agency or such other person as may be required to be an authorised person for the purposes of the Act of 1996 or any Part or section thereof;

“authorised representative” means any natural or legal person established within the European Union who has received a written mandate from a manufacturer to act on his behalf in relation to specified tasks;

“cables” means all cables with a rated voltage of less than 250 volts that serve as a connection or an extension to connect EEE to the electrical outlet or to connect two or more EEE to each other;

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

“conformity assessment” means the process demonstrating whether the requirements of these Regulations relating to EEE, are met;

“dependent” means, with regards to EEE, needing electric currents or electromagnetic fields to fulfil at least one intended function;

“the Directive” means European Parliament and Council Directive 2011/65/EU4 on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment;

“distributor” means any natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or the importer, who makes EEE available on the market;

“economic operator” means the manufacturer, the authorised representative, the importer and the distributor;

“electrical and electronic equipment” or “EEE” means equipment which is dependent on electric currents or electromagnetic fields in order to work properly and equipment for the generation, transfer and measurement of such currents and fields and designed for use with a voltage rating not exceeding 1,000 volt for alternating current and 1,500 volt for direct current;

“harmonised standard” means a standard adopted by one of the European standardisation bodies listed in Annex I to Directive 98/34/EC5 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and Regulations and of rules on Information Society services on the basis of a request made by the European Commission in accordance with Article 6 of Directive 98/34/EC6 ;

“homogeneous material” means one material of uniform composition throughout or a material, consisting of a combination of materials, that cannot be disjointed or separated into different materials by mechanical actions such as unscrewing, cutting, crushing, grinding and abrasive processes;

“importer” means any natural or legal person established within the Union, who places EEE from a third country on the Union market;

“in vitro diagnostic medical device” means an in vitro diagnostic medical device within the meaning of point (b) of Article 1(2) of Directive 98/79/EC7 ;

“industrial monitoring and control instruments” means monitoring and control instruments designed for exclusively industrial or professional use;

“large-scale fixed installation” means a large-scale combination of several types of apparatus and, where applicable, other devices, which are assembled and installed by professionals, intended to be used permanently in a pre-defined and dedicated location, and de-installed by professionals;

“large-scale stationary industrial tools” means a large-scale assembly of machines, equipment, and/or components, functioning together for a specific application, permanently installed and de-installed by professionals at a given place, and used and maintained by professionals in an industrial manufacturing facility or research and development facility;

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

“manufacturer” means any natural or legal person who manufactures EEE or who has EEE designed or manufactured and markets it under that person’s name or trademark;

“market surveillance” means the activities carried out by the Agency to ensure that EEE complies with the requirements set out in this Regulation and does not endanger health, safety, or other issues of public interest protection;

“medical device” means a medical device within the meaning of point (a) of Article 1(2) of Directive 93/42/EEC8 and which is also EEE;

“non-road mobile machinery made available exclusively for professional use” means machinery, with an on-board power source, the operation of which requires either mobility or continuous or semi-continuous movement between a succession of fixed working locations while working, and is made available exclusively for professional use;

“placing on the market” means making EEE available on the Union market for the first time;

“prosecutor” means the Agency or Director of Public Prosecutions;

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

“Regulation (EC) No. 765/2008”9 means Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council setting out the requirements for accreditation and market surveillance relating to the marketing of products;

“spare part” means a separate part of EEE that can replace a part of EEE and—

(a) the EEE cannot function as intended without that part; and

(b) the functionality of the EEE is restored or upgraded when the part is replaced by the spare part;

“technical specification” means a document that prescribes technical requirements to be fulfilled by a product, process or service;

“withdraw” means take any measure aimed at preventing EEE in the supply chain from being made available on the market.

Scope of Regulations

4. (1) These Regulations shall apply to EEE which—

(a) falls within the categories set out in Schedule 1 and is placed on the market on or after 2nd January 2013;

(b) was placed on the market before 2nd January 2013 as set out in Regulation 35(2),

without prejudice to European Union legislation on-

(I) safety and health...