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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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There are uncertainties surrounding the proposed Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill. The Compliance People Consultant Alison Long gives a heads-up on how this Bill may affect your organisation.
Following Brexit, the proposed Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill is set to remove or amend around 2,400 pieces of legislation based around European Union (EU) directives. If the Bill is passed in April 2023, any retained EU laws that are not specifically renewed will be repealed by the 31st December 2023 sunset clause.
The aim of this Bill is to allow the Government to amend, repeal and replace EU laws easily, and to restore priority to domestic law.
Approximately 58 of the proposed 2,400 pieces of legislation are related to health and safety, including the following.
Primary legislation such as the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 will not be affected by the changes.
There is uncertainty surrounding this deregulation process, as the Government has not issued any formal proposals regarding the fate of specific regulations. It is possible that these regulations will remain unchanged, be removed, or replaced. The Bill is currently in the committee phase in the House of Commons, but if it is passed, there will be changes to health and safety duties for organisations.
The current proposal requires both Houses of Parliament to approve any amendments or to revoke legislation. However, concerns are raised about the time it will take to consider pieces of legislation in detail before the sunset clause takes effect on 31st December 2023. The actual review processes are currently unknown.
Jurisdiction: United Kingdom
Commencement: 1st November 2022
Amends:
Various duties apply.
The following provisions are omitted.
A minor technical change is made to replace a reference to the Commission with the Secretary of State. This allows the Secretary of State to adopt delegated acts.
Disclosure of information
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) may disclose certain information concerning the trade in or safety of chemicals to ensure:
Information shall not be disclosed if it would contravene data protection.
Persons may use the disclosed information for a permitted purpose, in accordance with regulation 3.
There are no changes to duties for organisations.
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Jurisdiction: UK
Commencement:
The following sections of the Act will commence on Royal Assent (30th December 2020):
The other provisions will commence on the day or days appointed by regulations.
Amends:
This Act implements into legislation ‘Agreements‘ that have been agreed between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) following the UK’s departure from the EU:
The Act is required to implement the Agreements for them to have domestic legal effect and to enable the UK Government to consent to the Agreements. It also enables the implementation of future arrangements and agreements.
The applicability to health and safety relates to Part 2 of the Act, specifically disclosure and sharing of non-food product safety information within the UK and with the EU.
Non-food product safety information includes the compliance of products, as well as whether they are safe, and the information listed in Article TBT.9(3) of the TCA and information under the Annexes on chemicals and motor vehicles to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement:
This Act provides a way for the UK to share non-food product safety information received from the European Commission with the ‘appropriate person‘ so that the information can be used for the protection of consumers and others.
Where a relevant authority, i.e. a Government Minister or the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), receives non-food product safety information from the European Commission, they can disclose non-food product safety information received from the EU for a permitted purpose. The following are permitted purposes:
There is no restriction on who the information can be shared with, provided it is for the permitted purpose. In practice, it is expected that this information will be shared with public authorities, such as market surveillance authorities and the Crown Dependencies, as part of their inclusion in the TCA.
A person who receives non-food product safety information from the EU may only use the information for a permitted purpose and is not able to further disclose the information except with the consent of the relevant authority.
The Act also provides a way for a Government Minister or the HSE to share with the European Commission information which relates to non-food product safety for the purpose of the TCA. The TCA establishes contact points through which this information will be exchanged between the UK Government and the European Commission.
There are no direct compliance duties for organisations in this Act.
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Jurisdiction: UK
Commencement: Section 59 of the Act will commence on Royal Assent (17th December 2020). The other provisions will commence on the day or days appointed by regulations.
Amends: New Legislation
As the United Kingdom (UK) has left the European Union (EU), this Act is introduced to ensure businesses can continue to trade goods freely and effectively across the UK.
The Act establishes two principles that apply to goods and services which are known as the ‘Market Access Principles‘:
The market access principles allow organisations to trade without additional barriers based on which UK nation they are in. They also provide access of qualifying goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.
This entry focuses on the parts of the Act that relate to the environment; specifically this relates to the exclusions from mutual recognition and non-discrimination for goods.
There are certain specific exclusions from mutual recognition and non-discrimination for goods. An exclusion is a policy area, area of regulation or type of relevant requirement that is not subject to the principles. These areas can be updated and changed in the future if required in response to changes in market conditions.
Schedule 1 of the Act lists certain areas of exclusion from either or both Market Access Principles. The areas that are excluded from mutual recognition and relate to environmental management are:
The area excluded from both mutual recognition and non-discrimination that relates to environmental management is sanitary and phytosanitary measures relating to serious threats to animal and plant health. This ensures that the measures can be implemented, to take account of differences in pest and disease prevalence across the UK. Any measure falling under this exclusion needs to be supported by a risk assessment demonstrating the measure was reasonable and justified.
There are no direct compliance duties for organisations in this Act.
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Jurisdiction: EU
Commencement: 2 April 2020
Amends: Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC supported by 2019/436 on the harmonised standards for machinery
The Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC supported by 2019/436 on the harmonised standards for machinery and the supporting Implementing Decision set out the requirements for machinery to meet European health and safety requirements so that they may be moved freely throughout the European Union. The Directive is implemented by national law in Member States.
An amendment is made to Annexes I and III of Decision 2019/436 on the harmonised standards for machinery, which lists harmonised standards for machinery drafted in support of the Machinery Directive.
Changes to Annex I
Annex I of the Decision lists the standards with which conformance is presumed to demonstrate conformance with the Directive. In row 35 of Annex I, the reference for EN 62841-2-1:2018 Electric motor-operated hand-held tools, transportable tools and lawn and garden machinery — Safety — Part 2-1: Particular requirements for hand-held drills and impact drills (IEC 62841-2-1:2017 Modified) is updated from EN 62841-2-1:2018 to EN 62841-2-1:2018/A11:2019.
The following additional standards are added to Annex 1:
Changes to Annex III
Annex III of Decision 2019/436 lists Standards which are, or will be withdrawn, and gives the dates of withdrawal.
The following additional standard is added to Annex III with a withdrawal date of 2nd April 2020: EN ISO 28927-4:2010: Hand-held portable power tools – Test methods for evaluation of vibration emission – Part 4: Straight grinders (ISO 28927-4:2010).
All of the standards listed below are added to Annex III, with a withdrawal date of 2nd October 2021:
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Jurisdiction: EU
Commencement: 29 October 2019
Amends: Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) as amended
Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) applies to substances manufactured or imported in the EU in quantities of 1 tonne or more per year. They impose a greater responsibility on industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide safety information on substances used.
Annex V is amended to include digestate in the list of substances that are exempt from the obligation to register under the following titles of the 2006 Regulation:
They are granted exemptions as their registration is deemed inappropriate or unnecessary and their exemption does not prejudice the objectives of the 2006 Regulation.
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