EU ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION: VIEWS OF THE EUROPEAN COMMERCE SECTOR

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EU ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION VIEWS OF THE
EUROPEAN COMMERCE SECTOR

• Christel Davidson, Environment Adviser

www.eurocommerce.be
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What is EuroCommerce

• EuroCommerce was founded in 1993
• Represents the retail, wholesale and
  international trade sector
• More than 100 members
• national trade associations from 29 countries
• individual companies
• European and national sectorial trade
  associations

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Federations Companies
Svensk Handel
VOSZ
NCHC
NRZHIU
SESME
Reál Hungária
EuroCommerce represents a unique mix of companies
- from world leading international companies all
the way down to the corner shop
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Commerce in the EU

• 11 of EU GDP
• 6 millions enterprises, 95 of these are small
  enterprises
• Interface between industry and the 493 million
  consumers across Europe
• Providing jobs for 30 million people from all
  parts of society

A thriving sector bringing Wealth to the
European Economy
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Our mission

• To promote the common interests of a sector
  vis-à-vis the EU institutions
• To lobby throughout the legislative process
• To educate EU decision makers to the impact of
  future legislation
• To provide timely and comprehensive information
  to members of the federation

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Horizontal strategic subjects for commerce

• Image of commerce
• Competitiveness
• Better regulation
• Service to consumers

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The organisation
Board Steering committee political
level Policy Committees technical level

• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Enlargement
• Environment and Logistics
• Fiscal Affairs
• Food Law

• Information and Communication Technologies
• Internal market and consumer protection
• International Trade
• Payment systems
• Social Affairs
• SMEs

Their work is consensus based
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EuroCommerce and the Environment

• Environment and Logistics Committee
• 3 working groups
• Stores and Buildings
• Products
• Logistics

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The Brussels scene
EU Commission
Federations (EuroCommerce), NGOs, lobbyists, etc.
Press /- 3.000 journalists
-proposes
European Parliament 785 MEPs - adopts legislation
Council 27 Member States - adopts legislation
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Competence and Influence
European Commission
- European Parliament - Council of Ministers
Legislation
Eurocommerce
EuroCommerce National Lobby Companies
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Why is it important to be present ?

• Influence EU legislation Directives and
  Regulations before adoption
• Early information
• - what is discussed today in Brussels will
  impact on your activities tomorrow
• Open decision makers to real life cases
• - concrete and practical examples improve the
  quality of legislation (important in particular
  for companies, e.g. own-brand-products)

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Communication Tools

• Position Papers (bilateral meetings,
  consultations, stakeholder meetings etc.)
• Flash
• MEP-Newsletter
• Annual Report
• Press release
• Manifesto
• www.eurocommerce.be (extranet for members)
• CEO Newsletter

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Everybody should get involved

• Thai businesses can and should also lobby and
  influence the EU decision-makers directly or by
  means of
• associations
• Thai Permanent Representation to the EU

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Commerce and EU Environmental Legislation

• Environmental Legislation gt200 Directives,
  Regulations etc. covering all areas (waste,
  nature conservation, products policy etc.)
• Always more legislation, always more complex
  leading to contradictory and conflicting messages
  e.g. anti-dumping duties on energy efficient
  light bulbs
• Does not take into account the realities of the
  supply chain (timeframes etc.)
• More and more pressure on retailers

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Implications for Thai companies

• More pressure put on our suppliers
• stricter rules need to be met
• late warning resulting in adaptation periods
  being very short
• better control of the supply chain
• more controls
• Important for companies to be well-informed on
  what is happening and what lies ahead for them

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REACH (Registration, Evaluation and
Authorisation of Chemicals)

• Substances in articles (affected as importers
  (I), producers (P) of own-brand products)
• Only representative

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Substances in articles registration

• Registration of all substances present in
  articles produced and/or imported
• in quantities above 1 tonne per year
• AND
• which are intended to be released

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Substances in articles registration

• Normally, but not necessarily I, P, will decide
  which articles have intended release
• Suppliers to provide information on the
  composition of the article they sell us i.e. the
  name (CAS-Number) of the substances intended to
  be released, as well as the quantities of all the
  substances present in the article which are
  intended to be released
• I, P, will calculate if 1t threshold is attained.
  If yes, pre-register before 1 Dec. 2008

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Substances in articles notification

• Notification of all substances of very high
  concern (svhc) contained in articles
• in quantities above 1 tonne per year
• AND
• present in a concentration above 0.1 weight by
  weight
• 1st candidate list probably early 2009
  (substances CMRs, PBT, vPvB)

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Substances in articles notification

• Suppliers of articles to inform I, P, if svhc
  contained in articles in concentration gt0,1
  (w/w)
• Minimum info. to provide
• name of substance
• information allowing the safe use of the article
  in a format understandable to the final user
• Suppliers to be up to date on contents of the
  list
• Notification to start on 1 June 2010 then at the
  latest 6 months after a new substance has been
  added to the list
• Importers may ask for more information
  (information to consumer requirements, replacing
  svhc etc.)

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Areas of concern

• Definition of intended to be released vs
  preparation
• Definition of 0.1 whole article but some member
  states are challenging this
• Notification vs information flow discrepancies

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Only Representative

• As of 30 November 2008, all chemicals entering
  the EU market must be pre-registered. If not you
  may no longer be allowed to sell your products on
  the EU market.
• Pre-registration by your EU customers
• Alternative is to appoint an O.R. is an EU-based
  legal entity appointed by you, who in charge of
  carrying out registration for non-EU
  manufacturers
• Commission recently clarified that the 1t
  thresholds applies to each individual company

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Next steps

• All the work is now at company level
• EuroCommerce members have been encouraged to
  raise-awareness among their suppliers
• Identify all preparation and articles with
  intended release
• Suppliers to provide necessary information to
  their customers ensure that they will be
  pre-registered
• Prepare to pre-register deadline 30 Nov. 2008
• Start keeping an eye opened for candidate list

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WEEE directive

• Internet consultation
• Relevant elements for the commerce sector
• producer responsibility
• scope of the directive

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What are we asking for?

• Clear definition of producer and distributor
• Placing on EU market rather than national
  territory
• Harmonisation of financial responsibilities,
  frequencies and formats of reporting, registering
  and making information available
• List or products falling under the scope of the
  directive

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Eco-design of Energy Using Product Directive

• Suppliers will have to comply with new
  requirements - non-compliant products will not be
  allowed on the EU market
• Deadlines could be very short
• Non-energy products could soon be targeted
• Important to get involved in preparatory studies

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Conclusion

• More and more environmental constraints on
  businesses
• Need to anticipate, hence the importance of
  monitoring EU legislation
• Special attention to SMEs

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• Thank you for your attention !
• Christel Davidson, Environment Adviser
• Contact
• Ave. Des Nerviens 9-31
• 1040 Brussels
• Email davidson_at_eurocommerce.be
• Tel. [phone]
• EuroCommerce
• The voice of commerce in Brussels