S.I. No. 150/1995 - European Communities (Appliances Burning Gaseous Fuels) (Amendment) Regulations, 1995.

S.I. No. 150 of 1995.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (APPLIANCES BURNING GASEOUS FUELS) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1995.

I, RICHARD BRUTON T.D., Minister for Enterprise and Employment, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving effect to Articles 10 and 14 of the Council Directive 93/68/EEC of 22 July, 1993¹ amending Council Directive 90/396/EEC of 29 June 1990² on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to appliances burning gaseous fuels, hereby make the following Regulations:

1 Citation.

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Appliances Burning Gaseous Fuels) (Amendment) Regulations, 1995.

(2) The Principal Regulations and these Regulations may be cited together as the European Communities (Appliances Buring Gaseous Fuels) Regulations, 1992 to 1995, and shall be construed together as one.

(3) Any appliances which complies with the marking requirements in force before the 1st day of January, 1995 may continue to be placed on the market or brought into service until the 1st day of January, 1997.

2 Interpretation.

2. (1) In these Regulations—

"the Directive" means Council Directive 90/396/EEC of 29 June 1990 as amended by Council Directive 93/68/EEC of 22 July 1993:

"the Director" means the Director of Consumer Affairs;

"the Authority" means the National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health;

"place on the market" means—

¹O.J. No. L220, 30.8.93, p.1.

²O.J. No. L196, 26.7.1990, p.15.

( a ) import,

( b ) sell (whether by wholesale or retail),

( c ) offer to expose for such sale,

( d ) distribute free of charge, or

( e ) supply by a manufacturer for any of those purposes, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

"the Principal Regulations" means the European Communities (Appliances Burning Gaseous Fuels) Regulations, 1992 ( S.I. No. 101 of 1992 ).

(2) A reference to the "EC Mark" in the Principal Regulations shall be construed as a reference to "CE marking" which means the CE conformity marking consisting of the initials "CE", taking the form of the specimen given in Annex III of the Directive.

3 Requirements as to safety of appliances.

3. Regulation 3 of the Principal Regulations is hereby amended by the addition of the following paragraphs:

"(3) ( a ) Where appliances are subject to other Directives which provide for the affixing of the CE marking, the latter shall indicate conformity also to the provisions of those other Directives.

( b ) However, where one or more of those Directives allow the manufacturer, during a transitional period, to choose which arrangements to apply, the CE marking shall indicate conformity to the provisions only of those Directives applied by the manufacturer. In this case, particulars of the directives applied, as published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, shall be given in the documents, notices or instructions required by the Directives to accompany appliances.

(4) Nothing in these Regulations shall operate to prohibit, restrict or impede the placing on the market and the putting into service of appliances which comply with the provisions of the Directive, including the conformity assessment procedures laid down in Chapter II, and which bear the CE marking provided for in Article 10 of the Directive."

4 Appointment of notified bodies in the State.

4. Regulation 6 of the Principal Regulations is hereby amended by the addition of the following paragraph:

"(5) The Minister shall notify the Commission and the other Member States of the bodies which he has appointed to carry out the procedures referred to in Article 8 of the Directive together with the specific tasks which those bodies have been appointed to carry out and the identification numbers assigned to them beforehand by the Commission."

5 CE Conformity Marking.

5. (1) No person shall affix to an appliance any markings which are likely to deceive third parties as to the meaning and form of the CE marking. Any other marking may be affixed to the appliance or to the data plate provided that the visibility or legibility of the CE marking is not thereby reduced.

(2) Without prejudice to Regulation 13 of the Principal Regulations, where the Minister, the Director, the Authority or an authorised officer is of the opinion that the CE marking has been affixed unduly he shall, by direction in writing given to the manufacturer or his authorised representative established within the Community, require the said manufacturer or authorised representative to make the appliance comply as regards the provisions concerning the CE marking and to end the infringement.

(3) Where the direction is not complied with, the Minister, the Director, the Authority or authorised officer may take all appropriate measures to restrict or prohibit the placing on the market of the appliance in question or to ensure that it is withdrawn from the market in accordance with the procedures laid down in Regulations 13.

6 Refusal, suspension or withdrawal of EC type-examination certificate or EC certificate of conformity.

6. Regulation 12 (2) of the Principal Regulations is hereby revoked and paragraphs (3) and (4) of that Regulation shall be renumbered as (2) and (3).

7 Prohibitions on marketing.

7. Regulation 13 of the Principal Regulations is hereby amended by the substitution of the following:

"13. (1) Where the Minister, the Director or the Authority is of the opinion that a person is placing or has placed on the market appliances bearing the CE marking which when normally used as defined in Article 1 (4) of the Directive might compromise the safety of persons, domestic animals or property, the Minister, Director or Authority, as the case may be, shall by direction in writing given to that person prohibit him from placing or continuing to place on the market such appliances, or if appropriate, impose restrictions on his so doing, and where appropriate, require him to take all practicable steps to withdraw from the market any such appliance already placed by him on the market, and that person shall comply with the direction.

(2) Where the Minister, the Director or the Authority gives a direction under paragraph (1) the Minister, Director or Authority, as the case may be, shall inform the Commission of the fact, indicating the reasons for the giving of the direction.

(3) A direction given under paragraph (1) may be withdrawn by the Minister, the Director or the Authority, as the case may be.

(4) Any trader, importer or manufacturer who is affected by a direction given under paragraph (1) may appeal to the High Court against the direction and the Court, as it thinks proper, may vary, annul or confirm the direction.

(5) Any document purporting to be a direction given by the Minister, the Director or the Authority under paragraph (1) shall be received in evidence and deemed to be such a direction without further proof unless the contrary is shown.

(6) No person shall place on the market an appliance in contravention of a direction under this Regulation.

(7) A manufacturer shall take all reasonable steps to withdraw or cause to be withdrawn from the market any appliance where he is required to do so by a direction under this Regulation."

8 Review.

8. In Regulation 14 (1) of the Principal Regulations the reference to "Regulation 12 (4)" is hereby amended to "Regulation 12 (3)."

9 Powers of authorised officers.

9. (1) Regulation 15 (1) of the Principal Regulations is hereby amended by the substitution therefor of the following:

"(1) In this Regulation "authorised officer" means a person authorised in writing by the Minister, the Director or the Authority to exercise, for the purposes of these Regulations and the Directive, the powers conferred by this Regulation."

(2) Regulation 15 (2) of the principal Regulations is hereby amended by the substitution for subparagraph (e) of the following:

"(e) take possession of and remove for examination and checking an appliance or any part thereof, and retain such appliance or part thereof for such time as he considers reasonable for the purposes of his functions under these Regulations or the Directive."

10 Offences.

10. Regulation 16 (1) (b) of the Principal Regulations is hereby revoked and subparagraph (c) shall be renumbered as "(b)."

11 Prosecution of offences.

11. Regulation 17 of the Principal Regulations is hereby amended by the substitution therefor of the following:

"17. Proceedings for an offence under these Regulations may be brought and prosecuted by the Minister, the Director or the Authority."

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 12th day of June, 1995.

RICHARD BRUTON,

Minister for Enterprise and Employment.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Regulations amend the European Communities (Appliances Burning Gaseous Fuels) Regulations, 1992. They give effect to the European Communities Council Directive 93/68/EEC of 22 July 1993 amending Council Directive 90/396/EEC of 29 June 1990, on CE conformity marking and assessment procedures for the technical harmonisation of the laws of the Member States.

The Regulations require the manufacturer, or his authorised representative within the Community, to affix the CE conformity marking on gas appliances. The Regulations came into operation on the making thereof. Gas appliances complying with marking requirements in force before 1 January 1995 may continue to be allowed to be placed on the market or put into service until 1 January 1997.

The Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Director of Consumer Affairs, and the Health and Safety Authority have powers of enforcement for these Regulations.