1.

Notifying Member: European Union

If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):

2.

Agency responsible: European Commission

Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, email and website addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:

European Commission

EU-TBT Enquiry Point

Fax: +(32) 2 299 80 43

E-mail: grow-eu-tbt@ec.europa.eu

Website: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/tbt/

3.

Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [ ], 5.6.2 [ ], 5.7.1 [ ], other:

4.

Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable): Aerosol dispensers

5.

Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document: Draft Commission Directive amending Council Directive 75/324/EEC as regards the maximum allowable pressure of aerosol dispensers and to adapt its labelling provisions to Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (5 pages, in English)

6.

Description of content: This draft Commission Directive intends to increase the maximum allowable pressure in an aerosol dispenser from 13.2 to 15 bar at 50°C when non-flammable propellants (compressed gases) are used. The maximum pressure provided currently by Directive 75/324/EEC limits the use of non-flammable propellants for some categories of aerosol dispensers. Commission Directive 2008/47/EC amending for the purposes of adapting to technical progress Directive 75/324/EEC increased the maximum allowable pressure from 12 to 13.2 bar, which was at the time the maximum pressure limit allowing to guarantee safety. However, further technical progress and innovation made possible a further increase of the maximum allowable pressure in the case of non-flammable propellants enabling thus to remedy a situation where the drop of the internal pressure during the use of the aerosol dispenser resulted in noticeable deterioration of its performance. The increase in pressure will therefore address this problem for some applications and will encourage industry to switch from flammable to non-flammable and thus more environmental friendly propellants. It will also allow a wider choice for manufacturers and also for consumers without however affecting the current safety levels.

The draft Directive also intends to adapt the labelling provisions of Directive 75/324/EEC to the latest modifications of the corresponding requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of 16 December 2008 by Commission Regulation (EU) No 487/2013 of 8 May 2013, so as to improve legal clarity, coherence and readability. The labelling requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 constitute the basis for the labelling requirements of Directive 75/324/EEC with regard to "non-flammable", "flammable" and "extremely flammable" aerosol dispensers. The intended modifications do not have any competitiveness or other impact as they do not affect the content of the requirements as those were already updated with Commission Directive 2013/10/EU of 19 March 2013 amending Directive 75/324/EEC in order to adapt its labelling provisions to Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008. The provisions of Directive 2013/10/EU also reflect the, at the time, on-going modification of the CLP Regulation which led to the subsequent adoption of Commission Regulation (EU) No 487/2013. However, the adoption of the latter Regulation enables a further simplification of the labelling provisions of Directive 75/324/EEC by less and more comprehensive legal references. The suggested adaptation will therefore also reduce the need for future modifications of the labelling provisions of Directive 75/324/EEC due to further updates of the corresponding provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008.

7.

Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable: The draft Commission Directive intends to increase the maximum allowable pressure of an aerosol dispenser in case of use of non-flammable propellants and also to align the labelling provisions of Directive 75/324/EEC to the latest relevant modifications of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 by Commission Regulation (EU) No 487/2013.

The draft Directive will provide aerosol dispenser manufacturers with an additional and therefore a wider choice in the case of use of non-flammable propellants, without affecting the current levels of safety provided for by Directive 75/324/EEC. It will also increase coherence and legal clarity between the labelling provisions of Directive 75/324/EEC and the labelling provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008.

As the draft measure does not provide for any new obligations for manufacturers but rather for an additional option and, in the absence of any substantial change to the labelling requirements of Directive 75/324/EEC as modified by Directive 2013/10/EU, it will not result in any risk of barrier to trade. On the contrary, it will further facilitate international trade as it results in less strict requirements as far as the maximum allowable pressure limits are concerned.

8.

Relevant documents:

1.         Directive 75/324/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to aerosol dispensers: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1452006501042&uri=CELEX:31975L0324

2.         Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1452006592213&uri=CELEX:32008R1272

9.

Proposed date of adoption: First half of 2016

Proposed date of entry into force: 20 days from publication in the Official Journal of the EU

10.

Final date for comments: 60 days from notification

11.

Texts available from: National enquiry point [ ] or address, telephone and fax numbers and email and website addresses, if available, of other body:

European Commission

EU-TBT Enquiry Point

Fax: + (32) 2 299 80 43

E-mail: grow-eu-tbt@ec.europa.eu

The text is available on the Website: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/tbt/

https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2016/TBT/EEC/16_0039_00_e.pdf