G/TBT/N/EU/103  
 
2 April 2013  
(13-1700)  Page: 1/3  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
NOTIFICATION 
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
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 telephon e 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:  mailto:eu-tbt@ec.europa.eu  
Website:  http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/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):  Electric 
motors. 
5. Title, number of pages and langua ge(s) of the notified document:  Draft 
Commission Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 640/2009 implementing Directive 
2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to ecodesign 
requirements for electric motors (4 pages, in English).      G/TBT/N/EU/103 
 
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6. Description of content:  Regulation (EC) No 640/2009 (the Regulation) includes in its 
Article 1 on subject matter and scope an exemption from the application of the Regulation 
for motors that are specifically designed for operating conditions considered extreme for 
conventional motors.  
These exemptions were intended to take account of the fact that some special-purpose 
motors cannot always be as efficient as motors designed to operate under conventional 
circumstances as there are constraints on their design that reduce their efficiency but allow them to operate reliably under stressful conditions. 
Some manufacturers have used these exemptions to circumvent the obligations fixed by 
the Regulation, indicating that motors are designed to operate at altitudes or ambient air temperatures beyond the scope of the Regulation. This threatens to undermine the objective of the Regulation and creates a situation of unfair competition on the market. 
In addition, the Regulation sets minimum information requirements for motors to be 
provided on or near the motor's rating plate. The information to be provided includes the nominal efficiency ( η) at the full, 75% and 50% rated load and voltage (U
N). 
Motor manufacturers have informed the Commission that it is not possible to provide this 
information in a legible manner on the rating plate of small motors due to lack of space on the rating plate. 
The purpose of the draft Regulation amending the Regulation is to clarify that the 
exemptions included in the Regulation are to be applied only to motors specified to work under special conditions. These exemptions are also brought in line with the most recent version of the international standards on electric motors. 
The amendment aims to clarify that when part load efficiencies cannot be provided on the 
rating plate of the motor in a legible manner, they can be provided on a free access website. 
The amendment will make it possible to avoid the loss of expected savings, which would 
ensue if the Regulation were not amended. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable:  Fight against climate change and increase of energy efficiency in the EU.  
8. Relevant documents:   Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 21 October 2009 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign 
requirements for energy-related products (recast) Official Journal L 285, 31 October 2009, p. 10, replacing Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 
6 July 2005 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy-
using products, Official Journal L 191, 22 July 2005, p. 29 - 58 
http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ. do?uri=OJ:L:2009:2 85:0010:0035:en:PDF  
Commission Regulation (EC) No 640/2009, of  22 July 2009, implementing Directive 
2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to ecodesign requirements for electric motors, Official  Journal L 191, 23 July 2009, p. 26. 
http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ. do?uri=OJ:L:2009:191:0026:0034:EN:PDF  
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:    October 2013 20 days from publication in the Official Journal of the EU G/TBT/N/EU/103 
 
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10. Final date for comments:  60 days from the date of notification.  
11. Text available from:  National enquiry point [  ], or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresse s, if available of the other body:    
European Commission 
EU-TBT Enquiry Point 
Fax:  + (32) 2 299 80 43 E-mail:  mailto:eu-tbt@e c.europa.eu  
The text is available on the EU-TBT Website:  http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/   
http://members.wto.org/crnattach ments/2013/tbt/EEC/13_1316_00_e.pdf