Jurisdiction: UK
Commencement: 1st October 2021
Amends:
- The Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products Regulations 2010
- The Energy Information Regulations 2011
The Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products Regulations 2010 originally came into force in November 2010 to implement the requirements of Directive 2009/125/EC establishing a framework for the setting of eco-design requirements for energy relating products (‘Eco-design Directive‘) in the UK. They have since had significant change following the United Kingdom (UK) leaving the European Union (EU); this has resulted in them applying differently in Great Britain (GB) (i.e. England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland (NI).
There are requirements that specific energy using products must meet to be placed on the market in the UK. They aim to improve the energy efficiency of products throughout their life cycle. The eco-design requirements of products address the environmental impacts resulting from product manufacture, usage and disposal.
There are duties for manufacturers, importers and suppliers.
The Energy Information Regulations 2011 enforce energy labelling regulations in the UK, and exist alongside The Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products Regulations 2010.
Following the UK’s exit from the European Union the Regulations enforce GB Retained Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 setting a framework for energy labelling (GB Energy Labelling Regulation) in Great Britain (GB) and Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 setting a framework for energy labelling (EU Energy Labelling Regulation) in Northern Ireland (NI).
The Regulations apply to energy-related products, however this does not include any means of transport for persons or goods or secondhand products unless they are imported from a country outside the EU into NI or imported into England, Scotland or Wales from a country outside GB.
Both the GB and EU Energy Labelling Regulations are enforced by the relevant Market Surveillance Authority (MSA). The Office for Product Safety Standards (OPSS) act as the MSA for manufacturers and importers in the UK and the local weights and measures authority (Trading Standards) and the Department for Economy act as the MSA for retailers in GB and NI respectively. Regulation 4 lists the relevant articles that each MSA is responsible for the enforcement of.
There are no direct duties for suppliers and dealers of energy related products within these enforcement Regulations.
The Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products Regulations 2010
These amendment Regulations amend various retained European Union (EU) Regulations on ecodesign and energy labelling in force in Great Britain (GB) to avoid technical discrepancies with equivalent legislation which is in force in the EU and Northern Ireland by virtue of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
This amendment makes minor technical changes, updating Schedule 1 to remove references to ecodesign and energy labelling measures that are no longer in force in GB and to ensure the references to measures currently in force in GB are up-to-date, so that they can be properly enforced by the relevant Market Surveillance Authority (MSA). The energy related product “boiler or an appliance” within the table is removed. The updated table can be found under Part 4 of these amendment Regulations.
The Energy Information Regulations 2011
These amendment Regulations amend various retained EU Regulations on ecodesign and energy labelling in force in Great Britain to avoid technical discrepancies with equivalent legislation which is in force in the EU and Northern Ireland by virtue of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The table outlining the EU measures which relate to specific energy related products (located in Part 5 of these amendment Regulations) is updated in the following ways:
- All dates from which the listed EU measures apply (in column 3) have been removed.
- The energy related product “household electric ovens” is removed from this table along with the EU measures that relate to this product type.
- The product type previously labelled “household refrigerators, freezers and their combinations” is now updated to “refrigerating appliances”.
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