SWEDEN: PACKAGING The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6. G/TBT/Notif.95.206. 1. Member to Agreement notifying: SWEDEN. If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2). 2. Agency responsible: Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. 3. Notified under Article 2.9.2. 4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable): Packaging. 5. Title and number of pages of the notified document: The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's Regulation on Packaging. 6. Description of content: -Definitions of packaging with examples - in line with the EC-directive. -Exemptions of packaging with a content of unhealthy or hazardous waste - principally in line with the EC-directive and in accordance with the Swedish legislation. -Collection systems that are to be supplied by the producers for the consumers. -Producers' responsibility in order to take care of the packaging waste in an environmentally sound manner. -Definitions of terms - principally in line with the EC-directive and in accordance with the Swedish legislation, which means more strict regulations for energy recovery and organic recycling. The term material recycling does not cover organic recycling. -Obligation to report amount of packaging put on the market, reuse, recovery, recycling etc. - differs from the EC-directive. The Swedish information system is based on sold amounts of packaging not on statistics of trade. There is no dividing into household and non-household waste. This Regulation prescribes the data that has to be collected from the producers. When reporting to the EU this data has to be completed with other information. 7. Objective and rationale: The purpose of the regulation is to: -give guidelines to the producers on how to decide whether a product is considered to be a packaging or not; -minimize risks in the handling of packaging waste; -direct the collecting, recovery and recycling of packaging; -make it possible to follow up the producers' responsibility; -create uniform rules and guidelines for all producers. These regulations will be issued by virtue of the Swedish Ordinance of packaging. The Ordinance which had been proposed in the beginning of 1993 came into force 1 October 1994. In the meantime, the producers have already established certain material companies with the task to administrate collection and recovery etc. of packaging waste. The material companies are open to all producers, but it is also possible to take the producer responsibility on ones own. 8. Relevant documents: Ordinance concerning producer responsibility for packaging (SFS 1994: 1235). The new Regulation will be published in the Statute Book of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. 9. Proposed date of adoption and entry into force: 1 October 1995 and 1 January 1996. 10. Final date for comments: 12 September 1995. (208)

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