S.I. No. 43/1984:

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (DETERGENTS) REGULATIONS, 1984.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (DETERGENTS) REGULATIONS, 1984.

I, JOHN BRUTON, Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive No. 7¾04/EEC of 22 November, 1973 ⁽¹⁾, Council Directive No. 7¾05/EEC of the said 22 November ⁽²⁾, Council Directive No. 82/242/EEC of 31 March, 1982 ⁽³⁾, and Council Directive No. 82/243/EEC of the said 31 March ⁽⁴⁾, hereby make the following Regulations:

⁽¹⁾ O.J. No. L347/51 17.12.1973.

⁽²⁾ O.J. No. L347/53 17.12.1973.

⁽³⁾ O.J. No. L109/1 22.4.1982.

⁽⁴⁾ O.J. No. L109/18 22.4.1882.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Detergents) Regulations, 1984.

2. In these Regulations--

"authorised person" means a person appointed in writing by the Minister to be an authorised person for the purposes of these Regulations;

"detergent" means a detergent for the purposes of the Directive;

"the Directive" means Council Directive No. 7¾04/EEC of 22 November, 1973⁽¹⁾;

⁽¹⁾ O.J. No. L347/51 17.12.1973.

"the Minister" means the Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism.

3. (1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this Regulation, a person shall neither--

( a ) place on the market or use a detergent where the average level of biodegradability of the surfactants contained therein is less than 90% for each of the following categories, namely, anionic, cationic, non-ionic and ampholytic, nor

( b ) so use a surfactant described in the second paragraph of Article 2 of the Directive that, under normal conditions of use, it is harmful to human or animal health.

(2) Where a detergent is placed on the market or used and the biodegradability of the surfactants contained therein, as determined in accordance with--

( a ) as regards anionic surfactants, a method specified in Article 2 (inserted by Article 1 of Council Directive No. 82/243/EEC of 31 March, 1982 of Council Directive No. 7¾05/EEC,

( b ) as regards non-ionic surfactants, a method specified in Article 2 of Council Directive No. 82/242/EEC of 31 March, 1982,

is not less than 80%, for the purposes of this Regulation the detergent shall not be regarded as being a detergent described in subparagraph (a) of paragraph (1) hereof.

4. (1) ( a ) Subject to subparagraph (b) of this paragraph and to paragraph (2) of this Regulation, Regulation 3 of these Regulations shall not apply to a product which is a product mentioned in subparagraph (a) or (b) of Article 2a (1) (inserted by Article 5 of Council Directive No. 82/242/EEC of 31 March, 1982 of the Directive.

( b ) The exemption contained in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph is subject to compliance by the products to which it relates with the following conditions, namely--

(i) in case the product comes on the market after the 30th day of September, 1983, it shall comply with the requirements of Article 2a (2) (so inserted) of the Directive, and

(ii) in case non-ionic surfactants are used in the product, it shall comply with the requirements of Article 2a (3) (so inserted) of the Directive.

(2) This Regulation shall cease to have effect on the 1st day of April, 1986.

5. (1) The information specified in Article 7 (1) of the Directive shall--

( a ) appear in legible, visible and indelible characters on the packaging in which detergents are put up for sale to the consumer,

( b ) appear on all documents accompanying detergents transported in bulk.

(2) A person shall not place a detergent on the market unless--

( a ) the requirements of paragraph (1) (a) of this Regulation are complied with as regards the detergent, and

( b ) in complying with the said requirements either the Irish language or the English language is used.

6. (1) An authorised person may at any reasonable time enter and inspect any premises (other than a private residence) in which he has reasonable grounds for believing that a detergent is being placed on the market or used and may take and retain such samples of any product he reasonably believes to be a detergent as he considers appropriate.

(2) A person shall not impede or obstruct an authorised person in the exercise of a power conferred on him by this Regulation.

7. (1) A person who contravenes Regulation 3 (1), 5 (2) or 6 (2) of these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £800.

(2) Where there is a failure to comply with the requirements of Regulation 5 (1) (b) of these Regulations, the person who, as regards the transportation in relation to which the failure occurs, is the consignor of the detergents concerned shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £800.

(3) In any proceedings in which the use of a detergent in contravention of Regulation 3 (1) of these Regulations is alleged, it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove that the use to which the allegation relates was, and was only, connected with a private household.

8. An authorised person shall be furnished with a warrant of his appointment as an authorised person and when exercising any power conferred on him by these Regulations shall, if requested by any person thereby affected, produce the warrant to that person.

9. Proceedings for an offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by the Minister.

10. The European Communities (Detergents) (No. 2) Regulations, 1975 ( S.I. No. 107 of 1975 ), are hereby revoked.

GIVEN under my Official Seal this 10th day of February, 1984.

JOHN BRUTON,

Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The purpose of these Regulations is to give legal effect to Council Directives 7¾04/EEC, 7¾05/EEC, 82/242/EEC and 82/243/EEC relating to detergents and to methods of testing the biodegradability of anionic and non-ionic surfactants present in detergents. The Regulations also revoke the European Communities (Detergents) (No. 2) Regulations, 1975 ( S.I. No. 107 of 1975 ).

These Regulations should be read together with the Council Directives.