Hi Lauren et al I would like to take this opportunity to share some information with you and the rest of the group.
In August 1999 I received some provisional information similar to a question that was raised in this and other forums. I started to investigate this issue and located various references including Community Regulation EC3093/94. Under Article 189 of the Treaty of Rome these regulations become part of domestic law without the need of legislation to implement them and are legislative Acts of general application. I contacted the European Commission and received the following response: >"Dear Mr Abroka-Ampadu >I shall try to respond to your questions below that you sent to Mr Bail and which subsequently have been transfered to my Head of Unit, Mr Perera. >In the EU, a Community Regulation (EC 3093/94) governs the phaseout of ozone depleting substances such as HCFCs. This Regulation is directly applicable in >all Memeber States. >A new Regulation that will replace 3093/94 is close to adoption (the Council of ministers reached a common position (5748/99) on the revise on 23 February this >year and the European Parliament's second reading is due later this autumn. Final adoption is likely early 2000. >According to the common position on this new regulation, the use of HCFCs in the manufacturing/assembling of new refrigeration and air conditioning equipment >will be banned by 1 January 2001 (some exemptions exist for certain air-conditioning equipment until 2003/2004). Imports of equipment using HCFCs will be >banned simultaneously with the abovementioned bans. >The bans under the new EC Regulation will not apply to second hand equipment if it can be shown that they are manufactured before the respective ban entered >into force. >In addition, Member States may have more advanced national legislation (earlier bans on HCFCs).As you mention, Germany bans HCFCs 1 January 2000. Other >European countries with national legislation going further than the EC regulation include Austria, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Luxemburg. >You may find some further information on our web-page ( http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dg11/ozone/index.htm) >Should you have further questions do not hesitate to contact me. >Best Wishes >Per Rosenqvist" Following this reply I contacted the German Environment Agency, The Swedish Environment Agency, the UK Dept of the Environment, the Danish Environment Agency and the Irish Dept of the environment. Each of these organisation confirmed that the ban on the "use of HCFC in new refrigeration equipment" would come into force as follows: Sweden, Austria 01.01.1998 Germany 01.01.2000 UK, France, Eire, Denmark 01.01.2001. Note: The Regulation does not apply to equipment that was manufactured before the cut off date as long as the date of manufacture was before the cut off date. In other words it does not apply to second hand or used equipment. Although the Regulation applies throughout Europe each member state is entitled to implement the requirements of the Regulation as per their national policies. Where there is a strong political force on environmental issues then these countries have applied more stringent controls. Reading the EC Regulation as I discovered is only the first step to get the full information. Contacting the relevant environment agencies in the various member states was the only way to understand how they are implementing the requirements of the EC Regulations or Directives. BTW Under Article 189 of the Treaty of Rome, Directives are binding on member states, although it is left to the member states to decide on the means of giving them legal and/or administered effect. In essence the member state must implement national legislation to meet the requirements of the directives. I hope this helps although I am sure there are still some questions or concerns out there. Slaint
é William McCafferty Safety & Quality Manager Nikon Precision Europe Tel: 00 44 (0)1506 405465 Mobile: 00 44 (0)411 208 988 Fax: 00 44 (0)1506 464 411 "Crane, Lauren" <[email protected]> on 01/04/2001 04:14:51 PM Please respond to "Crane, Lauren" <[email protected]> To: "'[email protected]'" <[email protected]>, [email protected] cc: (bcc: William McCafferty/LIV/NPEUROPE.COM) Subject: HCFC ban in Europe - EC reg 2037/2000
Summary =========================== The EC "ozone regulation" No. 2037/2000 does, indeed, prohibit the use of HCFC's as early as 1/1/00. In fact, some uses of HCFC's as early as 1/1/96. The trick to reading this regulation is to understand that the prohibition dates are scheduled according to the use of the HCFC. There are different dates, for example, for HCFC's used as solvents, aerosols, and refrigerants. The refrigerant use is, itself, broken down into different use sectors (i.e. Military Vehicles, Public Transport Air-conditioning).... Before you can determine when your products use of HCFC will be prohibited, you must determine how the regulation speaks of your product...not always an easy task. Since the regulation is focused on the EU it is more difficult to find the language pointed towards manufacturers outside the EU who are selling into the EU. Note, for example, that "producer" in this document means a producer of HCFC (or other banned material), NOT a producer of equipment that utilizes the material. (ref article 2). As with most EU legislation, the primary burden of compliance is on those people in the union. Therefore, the burden is on the importer of equipment utilizing banned materials, not specifically on the exporter outside the EU. Of course, many US based companies have a Euro affiliate, and share reputation and "bottom line" or have contractual agreements not to get the Euro guys in trouble with "the law." Also note that this regulation seems to include reporting requirements for those who IMPORT HCFC's and related materials into the EU. Article 4 and or Article 6 describes this. So if you export equipment that utilizes HCFC's, but it is imported EMPTY of the HCFCs, you are pretty clear of obligations. However if you export HCFC containing equipment, even during the period before prohibition for your particular product, the importer of your equipment probably has reporting responsibilities. The body that must receive these reports, and how import quota's are determined are unclear to me at this time. I need to re-read the regulation 10 or so more times. Attached is an analysis I did for a "chiller" that uses HCFC's in its primary cooling cycle against the prohibition requirements of article 5. It is a specific case study, but may be useful to you. <<Analysis of CFC directive.doc>> I do not know how a "regulation" is different from a "directive." - more to learn ! The two amendments to this regulation to not change the base document in a large way. Details =========================================== Found by searching at "Directory of Community legislation in force" (http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/lif/ind/en_analytical_index_15.html) with key word "2037/200) selecting 'legislation in force' and 'consolidated legislation' check boxes on search page. The basic act http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/lif/dat/2000/en_300R2037.html A first amendment http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/lif/dat/2000/en_300R2038.html A second amendment http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/lif/dat/2000/en_300R2039.html Lauren Crane * Principal Safety & Compliance Engineer * Ion Beam and Thermal Processing Systems * Axcelis Technologies Inc. * 108 Cherry Hill Dr. * Beverly, MA 01915 * 978.787-9745 [email protected]
Analysis of CFC directive.doc
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