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Jurisdiction: Great Britain
Commencement: 2nd September 2024 and 26th April 2025.
Amends:
Assimilated Regulation 2017/625 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products sets out the official controls to be carried out on animals and relevant goods entering Great Britain by the relevant competent authorities.
Various duties apply and are available to view in full on the Legislation Update Service.
Amendment
Amendment to The Official Controls (Plant Health) (Frequency of Checks) Regulations 2022 & Assimilated Regulation 2017/625 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products
Amendment to Assimilated Regulation 2019/2072 establishing uniform conditions for the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 as regards protective measures against pests of plants
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Jurisdiction: United Kingdom
Commencement: 31st December 2023
Amends: Assimilated Regulation 1107/2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market
N.B. This entry refers to the assimilated legislation as it applies in England, Scotland and Wales (GB) only, the EU version linked at the top of this entry applies in Northern Ireland.
Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 (‘PPP Regulation’) is enforced by The Plant Protection Products Regulations 2011 and The Plant Protection Products (Fees and Charges) Regulations 2011.
Various duties apply.
Seeds that have been treated with a plant protection product before 31st December 2020 may continue to be placed on the market until 1st July 2027, in accordance with the Plant Protection Products (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.
Parallel trade permits
A new framework has been introduced for parallel trade permits*.
*Parallel trade permits allowed plant protection products to be imported from the European Union into the United Kingdom where the product was identical in composition to a plant protection product already authorised in the UK.
Holders of parallel trade permits must apply to reinstate the permit by 1st April 2024. Applications must include:
Parallel trade permits are valid:
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Jurisdiction: Great Britain
Commencement: 31st December 2023
Amends: Assimilated Regulation 1272/2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures
Various duties apply.
It is no longer a requirement to include the chemical’s unique formula identifier in the supplemental information section of a label.
The following amendments are revoked in response to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (a previous update).
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The status of the EU law retained by the UK since Brexit changes at the end of 2023, what effect will it have for you and your organisation?
The Compliance People consultant Matt Peers looks at the upcoming changes brought about by the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023.
Following the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union in 2016 there has been much debate and concern about how this would affect the thousands of pieces of legislation which originated from the EU and its associated impacts. The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 was passed on 29th June 2023 and provides clarity on the future of retained EU law in the UK.
The Government’s finalised plans confirm that much of the UK’s domestic legislation and direct legislation incorporated from the EU will continue to apply, with just 587 laws being revoked in full or part at the end of 2023. The vast majority of laws which will be revoked are either duplicates, no longer applicable, or expired. As such, the revocation will have little impact to most individuals and organisations across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. A full list of the schedule of EU law that will be revoked or sunset at the end of 2023 can be found on the Government website here.
At the end of 2023 all EU-originating law which will continue to be retained will become known as ‘assimilated law’, rather than ‘retained EU law’. Effectively these laws will become secondary UK legislation with ministers and authorities having specific powers to restate, replicate, revoke or replace EU-originating law until 23rd June 2026.
Wider changes at the end of 2023 include the removal of the general principles of EU law in the UK, as well as revocation of the principle of supremacy of EU law over domestic law in the UK.
The vast majority of EU-originating laws will continue to be in effect after 31st December 2023, with relatively few being revoked, providing organisations with certainty and continuity as they operate across the UK post-Brexit.
Jurisdiction: UK
Commencement: 21st August 2023
Amends: Building Safety Act 2022 (c. 30)
*Driver activities includes driving time, speed, distance, and the loading and unloading of vehicles.
GB Retained: Regulation (EU) 165/2014 on tachographs in road transport, repealing Regulation (EEC) 3821/85 on recording equipment in road transport and amending Regulation (EC) 561/2006 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport sets out requirements for tachographs to be installed in all vehicles used for the carriage of passengers or goods. Duties are also imposed on the construction, installation, use and testing of tachographs.
Various duties apply.
Regulation (EU) 2016/799 implementing Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 laying down the requirements for the construction, testing, installation, operation and repair of tachographs and their components
From 21st August 2023, newly registered vehicles which are used for the carriage of passengers or goods by road must have a smart tachograph 2* installed.
Annex IC (requirements for construction, testing, installation, and inspection) is amended to introduce the requirements for the smart tachograph 2.
*A smart tachograph 2 records border crossings using a digital map as well as when a vehicle is being loaded and unloaded. There are also stronger anti-tamper mechanisms
GB Retained: Regulation (EU) 165/2014 on tachographs in road transport, repealing Regulation (EEC) 3821/85 on recording equipment in road transport and amending Regulation (EC) 561/2006 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport
From 21st February 2024, vehicles must contain the second version of smart tachographs (‘smart tachograph 2’)*.
*Smart tachograph 2 has stronger anti-tamper mechanisms and has more advanced features.
Recording of vehicle position
From 21st August 2023, vehicles registered for the first time must record information on border-crossing.
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Jurisdiction: United Kingdom
Commencement: 31st December 2023
Amends:
Links to the individual various pieces of legislation are included below:
Various duties apply.
Some EU-derived legislation will be revoked on 31st December 2023. However, any amendments made by law it revokes will still stand.
Further information can be found below in the full government text.
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Have fluorescent lamps had their day? Fluorescent lamps have been a staple of artificial lighting in the UK and across the world for almost a century, but with the EU cracking down on fluorescent tube lighting and the UK set to follow, consultant Tom Marsh outlines the main changes set to impact the UK market and the possible options for those affected.
The main driving force behind this approach is the environmental implications in using fluorescent lighting. Not only do fluorescent lamps contain mercury, a hazardous substance that is known to be very damaging to the environment, but they are also less energy efficient than the modern alternatives (e.g. LED lighting). In fact, LED lighting can be up to 80% more energy efficient than their mercury containing counterparts. It then follows that the replacing of fluorescent lamps with LED lighting will lead to cheaper energy bills for its adopters and reduced emissions through the generation of the required electricity.
So what is actually happening from a legal perspective? Well, manufacturers, importers and distributors of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) are currently required to limit the use of certain hazardous substances under The Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2012 (“RoHS regulations”). These restrictions cover substances such as lead, cadmium and the mercury found in our fluorescent lamps. The limit set for mercury by these regulations is currently a 0.1% concentration by the overall weight of EEE.
Exemptions are in place under the RoHS regulations to enable manufacturers, importers and distributors to exceed these limits for certain specified applications. For example, mercury in a single capped (compact) fluorescent lamp for general lighting purposes below 30 watts has a limit of 2.5 mg of mercury per individual burner (full list of exemptions in Great Britain can be found in Schedule A1 to The Hazardous Substances and Packaging (Legislative Functions and Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020).
In early 2023, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published a determination on these exemptions, outlining changes to be made to enable the phasing out of new fluorescent lamps being placed on the market. These changes are broadly in line with similar action being taken by the EU, albeit on a different timetable. Some of the key points in this phaseout are outlined below.
The above dates are not a total ban on the use of these florescent lamps, just on their placing on the market. Existing lamp stocks can continue to be used, although it is worth considering that with no new stock being produced the prices of such products will inevitably rise with the increased scarcity (in addition to the fact that they will be more expensive to run when compared to more efficient alternatives).
The upcoming changes may seem daunting for current users of fluorescent lamps, being faced with the choice of either paying increasingly high prices for increasingly scarce stock or biting the bullet and paying to convert all fluorescent lamps with a more modern alternative. But in the long run, you may find the increased efficiency and performance of these alternatives paying for themselves.
Jurisdiction: Great Britain
Commencement: 16th November 2022
Amends:
Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 establishing uniform conditions for the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 lists the different pests of plants and is supplementary to Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 on protective measures against pests of plants, which is known as the ‘EU Plant Health Regulation’. This is because this Regulation establishes a number of annexes that the EU Plant Health Regulation refers to that list relevant plant pests, measures needed to reduce the risk of those pests, and plants that are prohibited from entering the EU.
Regulation (EU) 2017/625 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products applies to the competent authorities who are required to check compliance by operators with agri-food* chain legislation from Great Britain (GB). *Agri-food includes the agricultural, horticultural, and food and drink processing industries.This Regulation has been made to provide a harmonised approach for official controls and other official activities undertaken by competent authorities.
Application in Great Britain
Following the UK’s departure from the European Union (EU), the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 incorporated all directly acting EU Regulations into UK law. Those Regulations have been subsequently amended to revise various definitions, terminology, authorities, etc. to GB rather than EU references, and to provide for regulation and enforcement by GB rather than EU bodies. This entry describes the retained version of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products, which applies in England, Scotland and Wales (GB) from IP completion day (31st December 2020).
Application in Northern Ireland
Although Northern Ireland has left the EU, under the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol the EU version of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 continues to apply in Northern Ireland.
Appropriate authorities are the Secretary of State and the Welsh and Scottish Ministers.
Official controls are the controls carried out on animals and relevant goods entering GB and include checks such as documentary checks, identity checks and physical checks.
Various duties apply.
Minor technical changes are made to delete the word “specified” in column 3 of entry 71 in Annex VII (List of plants, plant products and other objects, originating from third countries and the corresponding special requirements for their introduction into the Union territory).
There are no changes to duties for organisations.
A minor revision is made to Article 21 2(b). The official controls to verify compliance with welfare requirements when importing and transporting horses and domestic animals (e.g. cattle, sheep, goats and pigs) are extended. These controls now apply to third countries importing horses and domestic animals into Britain.
This amendment has no direct relevance to environmental matters.
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