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EU Chile free trade agreement modernization: about to enter into force
On 18 March 2024 the EU Council relased the following communiqué: “…EU-Chile: Council gives final endorsement to bilateral trade agreement The Council today adopted the decision on the conclusion of the Interim Agreement on trade (iTA) between the European Union and Chile. This decision marks the end of the internal ratification process within the EU and paves the way for the entry into force of the deal…”. It means that the iTA only requires ratification by the EU and not by individual member states. Therefore, now that the Council has validated the iTA, it can enter into force as soon as the Chilean side completes its internal ratification process. Apart…
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EU, critical raw materials and due diligence
Why you should read about critical raw materials? These substances affect many and different indutries: renewable energies, electric vehicles, smartphones, ICT, fertilizers and other ones… On 18 March 2024 European Council adopted the proposal of the European critical raw material act which covers rare earths and materials with a high risk of risk disruption. It is in line, among others, with the European Green Deal strategy, the European Climate Law, Batteries Regulation and the 2022 Versailles Declaration. Essentially, the three pillars of this act are: a) diversify the critical raw materials supply in the perspective of the Europian autonomy b) promoting the circularity; c) develop reserch and innovation. At…
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2024 a New Year of customs challenges
The 2023 has been an year very rich in customs news which will impat on the custom operations and compliance. We would list the following topics already published in our website: CBAM carbon border adjustments mechanism for which it is required to: 1) take into account HS codes;2) supply chain management; 3) special regimes; 4) made in/non-preferential origin; 5) customs value; The European regulantion on f-gases import; The due diligence on some goods (cattle,cocoa,palm oil, rubber, soya, wood,coffee) with specific focus on “deforestation and forest degradation”; The ecodesign, recycle and second life for batteries manufactured and imported into the EU; The free trade agreement with the New Zealand; The free…
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Batteries and UN regulations
The international framework of 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, is made by the following regulations: United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights; the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact; the United Nations Environment programme (UNEP) Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products; the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy; the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct; the OECD Due…
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AEO and obligations of importer of batteries
According to the European batteries framework, the importers has to place on the market a battery which is compliant with Articles 6 to 10 and Articles 12, 13 and 14 of the regulation. In particular, before placing a battery on the market, importers shall verify that: the EU declaration of conformity and technical documentation referred to in Annex VIII (Conformity assessment procedures) have been drawn up and that the relevant conformity assessment procedure has been carried out by the manufacturer the battery bears the CE marking referred and is marked and labelled in accordance with Article 13; the battery is accompanied by the documents required pursuant to Articles 6 to…
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Compliance, importer and battery extended producer responsability
The new regulation on batteries lays down the definition of producer and extended responsability and provides with the following definitions: Producer is: any manufacturer, importer or distributor or other natural or legal person that, irrespective of the selling technique used, including by means of distance contracts, either: (a) is established in a Member State and manufactures batteries under its own name or trademark, or has batteries designed or manufactured and supplies them for the first time under its own name or trademark, including those incorporated in appliances, light means of transport or other vehicles, within the territory of that Member State; (b) is established in a Member State and resells…
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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…
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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…
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EU critical raw materials assessed for 2023
The ecological transition and its customs impacts are affected by the results of the Study on the Critical Raw Materials for the EU 2023- Final Report. This report lists the minerals to be considered as “critical”: Industrial and construction materials: aggregates, baryte, bentonite, borates, diatomite, feldspar, fluorspar, gypsum, kaolin clay, limestone, magnesite, natural graphite, perlite, phosphate rock, phosphorus, potash, silica sand, sulphur, talc; Iron and ferro-alloy materials: chromium, cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, niobium, tantalum,titanium, titanium metal, tungsten, vanadium; Precious metals: gold, silver, and Platinum Group Metals (iridium, palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium); Rare earths: heavy rare earths – HREE (dysprosium, erbium, europium, gadolinium, holmium, lutetium, terbium, thulium, ytterbium, yttrium); light rare…
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EU critical raw materials act: the next steps of the EU green transition
The critical raw materials act announced on 16.03.2023 by the EU Commission is a comprehensive set of actions to ensure the EU’s access to a secure, diversified, affordable and sustainable supply of critical raw materials. The need of the EU is to mitigate the risks for supply chains related to such strategic dependencies to enhance its economic resilience; indeed, this can put at risk the EU’s efforts to meet its climate and digital objectives. This act: lists the critical raw materials( based on the final report “ Study on the Critical Raw Materials for the EU 2023”) and set up the following objectives: diversify the EU supply at least 10%…