COMMISSION DECISION
of 28 June 2011
on establishing the ecological criteria for the award of the EU Ecolabel to all-purpose cleaners and sanitary cleaners
(notified under document C(2011) 4442)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2011/383/EU)
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 on the EU Ecolabel (1), and in particular Article 8(2) thereof,
After consulting the European Union Eco-labelling Board,
Whereas:
(1)
Under Regulation (EC) No 66/2010, the EU Ecolabel may be awarded to those products with a reduced environmental impact during their entire life cycle.
(2)
Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 provides that specific EU Ecolabel criteria are to be established according to product groups.
(3)
Commission Decision 2005/344/EC (2) has established the ecological criteria and the related assessment and verification requirements for all-purpose cleaners and cleaners for sanitary facilities which are valid until 30 June 2011.
(4)
Those criteria have been further reviewed in the light of technological developments. The new criteria, as well as the related assessment and verification requirements, should be valid for 4 years from the date of adoption of this Decision.
(5)
Decision 2005/344/EC should be replaced for reasons of clarity.
(6)
A transitional period should be allowed for producers whose products have been awarded the Ecolabel for all-purpose cleaners and sanitary cleaners on the basis of the criteria set out in Decision 2005/344/EC, so that they have sufficient time to adapt their products to comply with the revised criteria and requirements. Producers should also be allowed to submit applications based on the criteria set out in Decision 2005/344/EC or on the criteria set out in this Decision until the lapse of validity of that Decision.
(7)
The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 66/2010,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
The product group ‘All-purpose cleaners and sanitary cleaners’ shall comprise: all-purpose cleaners, window cleaners, and sanitary cleaners.
(a)
All-purpose cleaners comprising detergent products intended for the routine cleaning of floors, walls, ceilings, windows and other fixed surfaces, and which are either diluted in water prior to use or used without dilution. All-purpose cleaners shall mean products intended for indoor use in buildings which include domestic, commercial and industrial facilities.
(b)
Window cleaners comprising specific cleaners intended for the routine cleaning of windows, and which are used without dilution.
(c)
Sanitary cleaners comprising detergent products intended for the routine removal, including by scouring, of dirt and/or deposits in sanitary facilities, such as laundry rooms, toilets, bathrooms, showers and kitchens. This subgroup thus contains bathroom cleaners and kitchen cleaners.
The product group shall cover products for both private and professional use. The products shall be mixtures of chemical substances and must not contain micro-organisms that have been deliberately added by the manufacturer.
Article 2
For the purpose of this Decision, the following definitions shall apply:
1.
‘substance’ means a chemical element and its compounds in the natural state or obtained by any production process, including any additive necessary to preserve the stability of the product and any impurity deriving from the process used but excluding any solvent, which may be separated without affecting the stability of the substance or changing its composition;
2.
‘product’ (or ‘mixture’) means a mixture or solution of two or more substances, which do not react.
Article 3
In order to be awarded the EU Ecolabel under Regulation (EC) No 66/2010, an item of all-purpose cleaner, window cleaner or sanitary cleaner shall fall within the product group ‘all-purpose cleaners and sanitary cleaners’ as defined in Article 1 of this Decision and shall comply with the criteria as well as the related assessment and verification requirements set out in the Annex to this Decision.
Article 4
The criteria for the product group ‘all-purpose cleaners and sanitary cleaners’, as well as the related assessment and verification requirements, shall be valid for 4 years from the date of adoption of this Decision.
Article 5
For administrative purposes the code number assigned to the product group ‘all-purpose cleaners and sanitary cleaners’ shall be ‘020’.
Article 6
Decision 2005/344/EC is repealed.
Article 7
1. By derogation from Article 6, applications for the EU Ecolabel for products falling within the product group ‘all-purpose cleaners and sanitary cleaners’ submitted before the date of adoption of this Decision shall be evaluated in accordance with the conditions laid down in Decision 2005/344/EC.
2. Applications for the EU Ecolabel for products falling within the product group ‘all-purpose cleaners and sanitary cleaners’ submitted from the date of adoption of this Decision but by 30 June 2011 at the latest may be based either on the criteria set out in Decision 2005/344/EC or on the criteria set out in this Decision.
Those applications shall be evaluated in accordance with the criteria on which they are based.
3. Where the Ecolabel is awarded on the basis of an application evaluated in accordance with the criteria set out in Decision 2005/344/EC, that Ecolabel may be used for 12 months from the date of adoption of this Decision.
Article 8
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 28 June 2011.