On 25 July 2023 the UK government announced that increased extended producer responsibility (âEPRâ) fees for packaging waste will be deferred by a year from October 2024 to 2025. In the same week the government also launched a consultation on the draft legislation to implement the new EPR regime which will include the introduction of mandatory packaging recyclability markings for the UK market. The current producer responsibility regime for packaging waste has been operational in…
On 28 July 2023, Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 concerning batteries and waste batteries (“Batteries Regulation”) was published in the Official Journal. The new Regulation repeals and replaces the existing Batteries Directive (2006/66/EC) and seeks to make all batteries placed on the EU market more durable, safe, sustainable, and efficient. It takes the extended producer responsibility (EPR) regime created by the existing Directive and expands it significantly through the introduction of more detailed mandatory design, content and conformity assessment…
On 1 August 2023, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) announced an indefinite extension to the use of CE marking in Great Britain beyond the previous 31 December 2024 deadline, giving businesses flexibility to choose between the CE marking and the UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) marking for the Great Britain market for the foreseeable future.  The announcement covers the regulations falling within DBTâs remit including the regimes applicable to toys, EMC, radio equipment, PPE,…
On 19 April 2023, the European Parliament adopted the final text of a new EU Regulation aimed at tackling deforestation and forest degradation (the “Deforestation Regulation”) requiring companies to undertake due diligence into the source of a wide range of commodities, including cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm-oil, rubber, soya and wood, to ensure that they have not been obtained as a result of deforestation. Once in force, obligated will have 18 months to implement the new…
The United Kingdom has agreed with the European Union a new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland which seeks to significantly reduce the number of checks on goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. The Windsor Framework would create two âlanesâ for goods which are arriving in Northern Ireland from Great Britain: Some product bans currently in place for goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain (for example on chilled sausages) will also be removed,…
On 14 November, the UK Government confirmed that it would continue to recognise the CE marking in Great Britain for another two years (until 31 December 2024) giving businesses extra time to prepare for the mandatory introduction of the UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) marking. Businesses can continue to use the new UKCA marking voluntarily until then, giving them flexibility to choose which marking to apply. The UKCA marking announcement covers most types of goods which…
At the end of last month the UK government announced a range of proposed measures to ease the transition to the new UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) regime that will replace the EUâs CE marking regime for the Great Britain market (England, Scotland and Wales) in respect of most types of CE marked products from the start of 2023. Note, products sold in Northern Ireland will continue to need to be CE marked as a result…
The UK’s Plastic Packaging Tax (“PPT”) becomes effective on 1 April 2022 and applies to plastic packaging in the UK that contains less than 30% recycled plastic content at a rate of ÂŁ200 per metric tonne. You can access our recent webinar on PPT here. The tax is aimed at encouraging the use of more sustainable plastic packaging, increasing the use of recycled plastic and helping to reduce plastic waste. The PPT has been promoted by…
Baker McKenzieâs Global Supply Chain Compliance Blog publishedâEU Commission Publishes Draft Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligenceâ which can be viewed here.
Baker McKenzie’s Global Compliance News Blog published “Global: 2022: International Trade Developments in a Challenging New World,” which can be viewed here.