Eucobat Position Paper - Producer Definition

1. 1
Position
Paper
Producer
definition
in
the
Battery
Directive
1. The
existing
legislation
According
to
the
Battery
Directive1,
producer
means
“any
person
in
a
Member
State
that,
irrespective
of
the
selling
technique
used,
including
by
means
of
distance
communication
as
defined
in
Directive
97/7/
EC
of
the
European
Parliament
and
of
the
Council
of
20
May
1997
on
the
protection
of
consumers
in
respect
of
distance
contracts,
places
batteries
or
accumulators,
including
those
incorporated
into
appliances
or
vehicles,
on
the
market
for
the
first
time
within
the
territory
of
that
Member
State
on
a
professional
basis”.
The
Battery
Directive
defines
‘placing
on
the
market’
as
“supplying
or
making
available,
whether
in
return
for
payment
or
free
of
charge,
to
a
third
party
within
the
Community
and
includes
import
into
the
customs
territory
of
the
Community”.
On
the
other
hand,
the
new
WEEE
Directive2
defines
the
producer
as
“any
natural
or
legal
person
who,
irrespective
of
the
selling
technique
used,
including
distance
communication
within
the
meaning
of
Directive
97/7/EC
of
the
European
Parliament
and
of
the
Council
of
20
May
1997
on
the
protection
of
consumers
in
respect
of
distance
contracts:
(i) is
established
in
a
Member
State
and
manufactures
EEE
under
his
own
name
or
trademark,
or
has
EEE
designed
or
manufactured
and
markets
it
under
his
name
or
trademark
within
the
territory
of
that
Member
State;
(ii) is
established
in
a
Member
State
and
resells
within
the
territory
of
that
Member
State,
under
his
own
name
or
trademark,
equipment
produced
by
other
suppliers,
a
reseller
not
being
regarded
as
the
‘producer’
if
the
brand
of
the
producer
appears
on
the
equipment,
as
provided
for
in
point
(i);
(iii) is
established
in
a
Member
State
and
places
on
the
market
of
that
Member
State,
on
a
professional
basis,
EEE
from
a
third
country
or
from
another
Member
State;
or
(iv) sells
EEE
by
means
of
distance
communication
directly
to
private
households
or
to
users
other
than
private
households
in
a
Member
State,
and
is
established
in
another
Member
State
or
in
a
third
country.”
1
Directive
2006/66/EC
of
6
September
2006
of
the
European
Parliament
and
of
the
Council
on
batteries
and
accumulators
and
waste
batteries
and
accumulators
2
Directive
2012/19/EU
of
The
European
Parliament
and
of
the
Council
of
4
July
2012
on
Waste
Electrical
And
Electronic
Equipment
(WEEE)

2. According
to
the
WEEE
Directive,
‘making
available
on
the
market’
means
“any
supply
of
a
product
for
distribution,
consumption
or
use
on
the
market
of
a
Member
State
in
the
course
of
a
commercial
activity,
whether
in
return
for
payment
or
free
of
charge”.
‘Placing
on
the
market’
is
defined
as
“the
first
making
available
of
a
product
on
the
market
within
the
territory
of
a
Member
State
on
a
professional
basis”.
The
WEEE
Directive
introduces
the
concept
of
the
“authorized
representative”
Each
Member
State
shall
ensure
that
a
producer
(not
selling
by
means
of
distance
communication)
established
in
another
Member
State
is
allowed
to
appoint
a
legal
or
natural
person
established
on
its
territory
as
the
authorized
representative
that
is
responsible
for
fulfilling
the
obligations
of
that
producer
on
its
territory.
Furthermore,
each
Member
State
shall
ensure
that
a
producer
selling
by
means
of
distance
communication
and
established
on
its
territory,
which
sells
EEE
to
another
Member
State
in
which
it
is
not
established,
appoints
an
authorized
representative
in
that
Member
State
as
the
person
responsible
for
fulfilling
the
obligations
of
that
producer
on
the
territory
of
that
Member
State.
Producers
supplying
EEE
by
means
of
distance
communication
shall
be
registered
in
the
Member
State
that
they
sell
to.
Where
such
producers
are
not
registered
in
the
Member
State
that
they
are
selling
to,
they
shall
be
registered
through
their
authorized
representatives.
2
2. Issues
The
producer
definition,
as
described
in
the
Battery
Directive,
does
not
comply
anymore
with
the
evolution
of
the
battery
market.
The
Battery
Directive
does
not
offer
a
solution
for
the
substantial,
and
growing,
international
trade
by
means
of
distance
communication,
in
particular
internet
sales
to
consumers.
For
the
batteries
put
on
the
market
in
this
way,
no
producer
is
responsible
and
in
many
cases
the
take-­‐back
is
organized
and
financed
by
other
producers.
As
a
consequence,
fair
competition
and
a
level
playing
field
for
all
economic
actors
becomes
impossible.
More
and
more
batteries
are
put
on
the
market
integrated
in
an
electrical
appliance.
Different
definitions
of
the
producers
will
lead
to
confusion
and
administrative
burden,
when
for
an
appliance
with
integrated
batteries,
another
economic
actor
might
be
considered
as
the
producer
of
the
integrated
batteries
than
the
producer
of
the
appliance.
3. The
Eucobat
position
In
order
to
avoid
administrative
burdens,
a
harmonisation
is
thus
required
between
the
Battery
Directive
and
the
WEEE
Directive.

3. As
the
WEEE
Directive
complies
most
with
the
evolution
of
the
market,
Eucobat
proposes
to
align
the
producer
definition
with
the
WEEE
Directive
and
to
introduce
also
the
concept
of
the
‘authorized
representative’
in
the
Battery
Directive.
As
a
consequence,
the
definition
of
‘producer’
could
read
as
follows:
“any
natural
or
legal
person
who,
irrespective
of
the
selling
technique
used,
including
distance
communication
within
the
meaning
of
Directive
97/7/EC
of
the
European
Parliament
and
of
the
Council
of
20
May
1997
on
the
protection
of
consumers
in
respect
of
distance
contracts:
3
(i) is
established
in
a
Member
State
and
manufactures
batteries
under
his
own
name
or
trademark,
or
has
batteries
designed
or
manufactured
and
markets
it
under
his
name
or
trademark
within
the
territory
of
that
Member
State;
(ii) is
established
in
a
Member
State
and
resells
within
the
territory
of
that
Member
State,
under
his
own
name
or
trademark,
batteries
produced
by
other
suppliers,
a
reseller
not
being
regarded
as
the
‘producer’
if
the
brand
of
the
producer
appears
on
the
batteries,
as
provided
for
in
point
(i);
(iii) is
established
in
a
Member
State
and
places
on
the
market
of
that
Member
State,
on
a
professional
basis,
batteries
from
a
third
country
or
from
another
Member
State;
or
(iv) sells
batteries
by
means
of
distance
communication
directly
to
private
households
or
to
users
other
than
private
households
in
a
Member
State,
and
is
established
in
another
Member
State
or
in
a
third
country.”
The
article
concerning
the
registration
requirements
should
provide
following
provision:
“Producers
supplying
batteries
by
means
of
distance
communication
as
defined
in
Article
X
(iv)
shall
be
registered
in
the
Member
State
that
they
sell
to.
Where
such
producers
are
not
registered
in
the
Member
State
that
they
are
selling
to,
they
shall
be
registered
through
their
authorised
representatives
as
referred
to
in
Article
Y
(2).”
A
specific
article
should
then
define
the
concept
of
the
authorized
representative:
“Article
Y
–
Authorized
representative
1. Each
Member
State
shall
ensure
that
a
producer
as
defined
in
Article
X
(i)
to
(iii)
established
in
another
Member
State
is
allowed,
by
way
of
exception
to
Article
X
(i)
to
(iii),
to
appoint
a
legal
or
natural
person
established
on
its
territory
as
the
authorized
representative
that
is
responsible
for
fulfilling
the
obligations
of
that
producer,
pursuant
to
this
Directive,
on
its
territory.
2. Each
Member
State
shall
ensure
that
a
producer
as
defined
in
X
(iv)
and
established
on
its
territory,
which
sells
batteries
to
another
Member
State
in
which
it
is
not
established,
appoints
an
authorized
representative
in
that
Member
State
as
the
person
responsible
for
fulfilling
the
obligations
of
that
producer,
pursuant
to
this
Directive,
on
the
territory
of
that
Member
State.
3. Appointment
of
an
authorized
representative
shall
be
by
written
mandate.”

4. 4
4. About
Eucobat
Eucobat
is
the
European
association
of
national
collection
schemes
for
batteries.
They
ensure
that
all
waste
batteries
are
collected
and
recycled
in
an
ecologically
sound
way,
and
by
doing
so
contribute
to
a
better
environment.
Eucobat
aisbl
September
2014