Directives / Recommendations
In the last 15 years makers and users of pallets and packaging in Europe have had an unprecedented range of new legislation and issues to be aware of. Some of this is mandatory in the European Union, such as the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive 94/62, some not mandatory although compliance is strongly advised such as sourcing timber from sustainable forests. Be ahead of your customers on that one, many are insisting on it, for example all timber coming onto the East London Olympic site has to be proven sustainable.
In the pages of this website we have gone into detail on important topics on a subject-by-subject basis. To help with the overall general picture we have identified 14 key issues that users and makers should be aware of in Datasheet 89e downloadable below. Safety features prominently in EU legislation and we have covered some of this in our page SAFETY ISSUES, although we stress this does not amount to a factory audit of these matters for which we advise using a specialist consultant.
Recently an important new approach - means of prevention - rather than finished product inspection has become important, even dominant at CEN. This approach has affected the content of the imminent new European Standard which will shortly affect packaging users and makers in the food and drink sector - EN 15593: 2006: Management of hygiene in the production of packaging for foodstuffs – Requirements. This uses the prevention approach and details new requirements for the packaging industry. This now includes controlling the cleanliness of all packaging including secondary packaging such as rented or ‘white’ pallets and this will apply whether or not any problem has previously arisen. We have covered this new standard including tainting, sustainability and heavy metals, in our ENVIRONMENT page.
The importance of European (CEN) standards in EU countries is not constant across the community, which creates difficulties. Whilst conflicting national product standards across the community have steadily been removed by CEN, creating fewer national barriers to selling goods in the marketplace, in some countries more CEN standards are mandatory than others. For example in certain countries outside Britain, some European insurers even have a view on safety factors (Datasheet 92a).
It is the EC that decides if European standards are to be mandatory by issuing a Directive. Often they brief CEN on what they expect to need to back up future legislation and then CEN sets up a standard drafting committee. In due course the Commission may accept the draft CEN standard and this is why there is a neat set of EN packaging waste, recycling, minimisation and environmental standards in support of EC Directive 94/62. The mandated waste standards are EN 13428, 13429, 13430, 13431 and 13432, and meeting these is a legal requirement for our industry. Proof of this is sometimes required by local Trading Standards Authorities or sometimes customers. PalletLink has helped members with this when overseas customers require proof of compliance. Many of our members have found this collection of standards difficult to understand and responding to this we have produced two documents for members - a Guide to EN 13428 and a Statement of Compliance with EN 13428. Both are downloadable in our ENVIRONMENT page.
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84j Statement of Conformity to Packaging (Essential Requirements) 2003. (Word Doc. 41kb)
84k Conformity with UK Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2003. (PDF 104kb)89e Pallets & Packaging 16 Directives & Recommendations to be aware of. (PDF 80kb)97b CN Combined Nomenclature Code - Commodity Code - Commodity Description (PDF 11kb)97e Declaration for exported goods having preferential origin status. (PDF 49kb)