Due diligence batteries, critical raw materials and AEO

The draft of regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning batteries and waste batteries, amending Directive 2008/98/EC and Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and repealing Directive 2006/66/EC will apply to:

all categories of batteries placed on the market or put into service within the Union, regardless of whether they were produced in the Union or imported;
regardless of whether a battery is incorporated into appliances, light means of transport or other vehicles or otherwise added to products or whether a battery is placed on the market or put into service within the Union on its own;
regardless of whether a battery is specifically designed for a product or is of general use and regardless of whether it is incorporated into a product or is supplied together with or separately from a product in which it is to be used.

Its purpose is to prevent and reduce adverse impacts of batteries on the environment and ensure a safe and sustainable battery value chain for all batteries, taking into account, for instance, the carbon footprint of battery manufacturing, ethical sourcing of raw materials and security of supply, and facilitating re-use, repurposing and recycling.

Moreover, it states that: “…Some of the raw materials used in battery manufacturing, such as cobalt, lithium and natural graphite, are considered to be critical raw materials for the Union, as indicated by the Commission in its communication of 3 September 2020 on ‘Critical Raw Materials Resilience: Charting a Path towards greater Security and Sustainability’, and their sustainable sourcing is required for the Union battery ecosystem to perform adequately…”.

The AEO approach based on high knowledge of free trade agreements, rules of origine, preferential origin, monitoring of the internal processes and ongoing risks analysis, is the main way to manage the coming obligations of this new legal framework.

Due diligence, AEO and batteries compliance

The regulation of batteries imposes due diligence obligations on economic operators placing batteries on the market or putting them into service.

It covers:

all categories of batteries (portable batteries, starting, lighting and ignition batteries, SLI batteries, light means of transport batteries, LMT batteries, electric vehicle batteries and industrial batteries, regardless of their shape, volume, weight, design, material composition, chemistry, use or purpose.
The batteries that are incorporated into or added to products or that are specifically designed to be incorporated into or added to products.

The key principles are: sustainability, safety, labelling, marking and information to allow the placing on the market or putting into service of batteries within the Union, extended producer responsibility, the collection and treatment of waste batteries and for reporting.