New Energy Labels: Are you a retailer of white goods, electronic displays or light sources?

New Energy Labels: Are you buying an appliance, a television or lights?

Subsidiary Legislation 427.96, Energy Labelling (Implementing Measures) Regulations, enacts Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2017 setting a framework for energy labelling and repealing Directive 2010/30/EU.

Scope

The Regulation lays down a framework that applies to energy-related products placed on the market or put into service. It provides for the labelling of those products and the provision of standard product information regarding energy efficiency, the consumption of energy and of other resources by products during use and supplementary information concerning products, thereby enabling customers to choose more efficient products in order to reduce their energy consumption.

Applicability

The Regulation applies to the below energy-related products, where their requirements are set through Delegated Regulations, Commission Directive or Regulation: 

Air conditioners

Domestic ovens and range hoods

Electronic displays including televisions

Household dishwashers

Household refrigerating appliances

Household tumble driers

Household washing machines and washer-dryers

Light sources

Local space heaters

Professional refrigerated storage cabinets

Refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function

Residential ventilation units

Solid fuel boilers

Space heaters

Water heaters

Tyre labelling (MCCAA relevant page)

The energy labelling legislations do not cover second-hand products, unless they are imported from outside the EU, or means of transport for persons or goods.

Energy Labelling Product database

The European Commission had established and is maintaining a product database, EPREL (European Product Database for Energy Labelling), consisting of a public part and a compliance part.

Suppliers (manufacturers, importers or authorised representatives) have to upload information about their products, relating to the energy label, technical documentation and compliance monitoring, into this database before placing products on the market. 

Consumers will be able to access the public part of the database and to consult product labels and information sheets, making it easier to compare the energy efficiency of various products.

General obligations of suppliers

The general obligations of suppliers include:

1. The supplier must supply each product with a printed energy label. They must also either supply a printed product information sheet with each product or insert the parameters of the product information sheet in the product database, depending on the relevant delegated act.
2. The supplier shall ensure accuracy of the energy labels, the product information sheets and the technical documentation.
3. The supplier must inform consumers if software or firmware updates that could reduce a product's energy efficiency and provide them with the opt-out option.
4. The supplier shall not use 'defeat devices', which alter a product's performance under test conditions.

Obligations of suppliers in relation to the product database

The obligations of suppliers in relation to the product database include:

1. From 1 January 2019, the supplier must, before placing on the market a new model covered by a delegated act, enter in the public and compliance parts of the product database the information for that model.
2. Where models covered by a delegated act are placed on the market between 1 August 2017 and 1 January 2019, the supplier must, by 30 June 2019, enter in the product database the information in relation to those models.
3. The supplier may enter in the product database the information for models that were placed on the market before 1 August 2017.
4. If changes that are made to a product, effect the energy label or the product information sheet, that product must be considered as a new model.
5. After the final unit of a model has been placed on the market, the supplier must keep the information concerning that model in the compliance part of the product database for 15 years. The information in the public part of the database must not be deleted.

Obligations of dealers

The obligations of dealers include:

1. The dealer must display, in a visible manner, including for online distant selling, the energy label for each product covered by a delegated act.
2. They must also make available to customers the product information sheet, including, upon request, in physical form at the point of sale.

Other obligations of suppliers and dealers

Other obligations of suppliers and dealers include:

1. The suppliers and dealers must make reference to the energy efficiency class of the product and the range of the efficiency classes available on the energy label in visual advertisements or technical promotional material for a specific model in accordance with the relevant delegated act.
2. They must cooperate with market surveillance authorities and take immediate action to remedy any case of non-compliance with the requirements set out in the Regulation and the relevant delegated acts.
3. They must not provide or display other labels, marks, symbols or inscriptions, on products covered by delegated acts, which do not comply with the requirements of the Regulation and the relevant delegated acts.
4. They must not supply or display labels which mimic the labels provided for under the Regulation and the relevant delegated acts, on products not covered by delegated acts and on non-energy related products.

Enforcement and penalties

The regulations provide powers to Technical Regulations Division (TRD), to take action against economic operators for products that are not in conformity with the regulations. TRD is required to take all appropriate measures to withdraw from the market or to prohibit or to restrict the supply of products bearing CE Marking which may endanger the health and safety of persons, property or the environment.

Economic operators are required to co-operate with the enforcement authority and on request, must provide information and take action as appropriate. Economic operators failing to comply with the requirements of the regulations are subject to the provisions of the Product Safety Act.

Further Information

The European Commission has produced a guidance on the energy-related products having the Energy Labelling legislation. The guidance table lists the Ecodesign and Energy Labelling legislations, guidelines, harmonised standards, amongst other info, which should be referred to for further guidance.

This guidance can be found at: https://ec.europa.eu/energy/topics/energy-efficiency/energy-efficient-products/list-regulations-product-groups-energy-efficient-products_en

More information on Ecodesign and Energy Labelling legislation and harmonised standards of the energy-related products is found at: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/european-standards/harmonised-standards/ecodesign_en

The European Commission has produced guidance regarding CE marking, which can be found at: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/ce-marking

The European Commission has produced guidance called the Blue Guide intended to contribute to a better understanding of EU product safety rules and to their more uniform and coherent application across different sectors and throughout the single market. The Blue Guide can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/18027/

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