WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.96.225
19July1996
ORGANIZATION
(96-2845)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: BELGIUM
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2): Belgium
2. Agency responsible:
Openbare Vlaamse Afvalstoffenmaatschappij
Kan. DeDeckerstraat 22/26
2800 MECHELEN
Tel. 015/20.83.20, Fax015/20.32.75 (ir.DeBoeck)
Office régional wallon desdéchets
Avenue Prince deLiège 15
5100 NAMUR
Tel. 081/32.58.51, Fax081/32.57.75 (ir.Fontaine)
Institut bruxellois pourlagestion del'environnement
Gulledelle 100
1200 BRUSSELS
Tel. 02/775.75.11, Fax02/775.76.11 (M.Hannequart)
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification canbe
indicated ifdifferent from above:
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable):
Packaging andpackaging waste
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Cooperation
Agreement between theFlemish, Walloon andBrussels Regions concerning the
Prevention andManagement ofPackaging Waste
./.G/TBT/Notif.96.225
Page2
6. Description ofcontent: Theproposed regulations arebased onthedefinition oftwokey
terms: "party responsible forthepackaging" and"take-back obligation". Theparty
responsible forthepackaging isconsidered tobetheBelgian packager or,failing that,
theBelgian importer ofthepackaged goods. Hemust takebackthepackaging orsetup
acollection system thatenables himtoachieve specified recycling andreclamation rates
every year. This obligation canbefulfilled individually orthrough anorganization
which must bedulyapproved bytheauthorities.
Theregulations provide foraprocedure forapproving these organizations, as
wellasanumber ofmechanisms formonitoring them. Theparty responsible forthe
packaging alsohasadutytoinform. Thisshould make itpossible toverify thatthe
system setupmeets theobjectives oftheAgreement and,inaddition, tomeasure the
development oftheuseofpackaging. Moreover, consumers mustbeinformed ofallthe
collection systems available tothem andanyadditional charges theymayhavetopay.
Asregards prevention, theparty responsible forthepackaging must draw upa
general prevention plan containing aseries ofelements defined intheAgreement.
However, theRegions arenotcompetent toapply standards relating tothecomposition
andre-use ofpackaging.
Fulfilment oftheobligations imposed bytheregulations isensured byasystem
ofadministrative finesandlegalpenalties.
7. Objective andrationale: Thedefinition oftheparty responsible forthepackaging is
based ontheapplication ofthe"polluter pays" principle: theproposed regulations
oblige theperson whohasputtogether theproduct andthepackaging or,failing that,
theimporter ofthegoods tobearthecostoftheendmanagement ofthepackaging
chosen. However, itisunlikely thatallthose responsible forpackaging could setup
their ownmanagement system. Those whocannot aretherefore allowed tojoinan
organization which collects andrecycles, onaprogressive scale, thepackaging stream
forwhich ithasbeenapproved.
Theconditions ofapproval ensure thatthose contracting withtheorganization
receive equal treatment. Making thepackager responsible willenable theBelgian
authorities tomonitor theachievement oftheirrecycling andreclamation objectives more
effectively.
8. Relevant documents: -
9. Proposed dateofadoption:
Proposed dateofentry intoforce:60days
10. Final dateforcomments: -
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: CIBELNOR