take-e-way News and Press Releases

Between 4 March and 26 March 2020, as many as three general decrees of BAUA (Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) were added, which now grants special approvals for certain hand disinfection formulations. These can now be produced industrially also for normal consumers, without any supply restrictions. Recommendation: In order to avoid supply bottlenecks for the manufacturers listed under the Biocides Ordinance, the current BAUA general decree should be used.

On account of the current corona pandemic, the EAR Foundation, in coordination with the German Federal Environment Agency, has decided to give all parties obliged to notify the opportunity to submit their annual statistics notification for 2019 on the EAR portal by 31 May 2020. Notifications submitted after 30 April 2020 – which are actually late – will therefore not be forwarded (in coordination with) the Federal Environment Agency as the authority responsible for the prosecution of administrative offences.

Please ensure that your suppliers have already checked the products for substances in the prohibited list according to Annex XVII of REACh. Moreover, we recommend that you arrange for your suppliers to sign a declaration of chemical harmlessness. Also ensure for production that none of the phthalates mentioned can “creep in” unnoticed.

The EU has simplified the procedure for supplying the EU market with a recommendation to notified bodies for respiratory masks. Respiratory masks are considered personal protective equipment of category III and are subject to mandatory certification. The certification procedure is now faster and more cost-effective. The company TMK Retail Service & Consulting GmbH provides assistance with the preparation of the documents, the marking of the masks and the issuance of the necessary EU conformity declaration.

For the second quarter of 2020, access is expected to be possible for end consumers to the public section of EPREL. The market supervisory authorities will then be able at the very latest to have access to the non-public section of the database. Initial test access instances have been made. “Private” market supervisors such as unfair practices watchdogs can check in the simplest manner, namely as final consumers, whether a product can at least be found in the public section. So please make sure that all your energy-related products are correctly and comprehensively registered.

Regulations on the emission of formaldehyde in consumer products remain in a state of flux. Please be sure to pay attention to the materials used also for electrical products and make sure that your suppliers already have products that meet the requirements or prepare them for stricter rules to be introduced.

In addition to ongoing information provided by the German Central Packaging Register to the state enforcement authorities, a further instrument is now being introduced to deal with behaviour infringing administrative regulations: With immediate effect, the ZSVR will also publish case reports. These reports are used to present cases transparently that constitute violations of the German Packaging Act. The take-e-way team will be pleased to assist you if you are concerned that you may not be correctly registered (or not at all) with your packaging.

On 27 January 2020, the German Federal Environment Ministry sent the draft bill on the new Battery Act to participating experts and associations. Below is a summary of the most important changes to the existing Battery Act from our point of view.

The EU wants all old energy labels replaced by the end of the transition period of 18 months, i.e. March 2023. TMK Retail Service & Consulting GmbH can create the new label and register the product in the EPREL database for you.

According to the new version of UN38, since 1 January 2020 the summary of test results has been mandatory to obtain a transport permit. The company TMK Retail Service & Consulting GmbH can assist you in preparing the summary of the test results.