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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)    

 

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   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. 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.  

 

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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:  

(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.”      

 

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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