Notice to undertakings intending to place hydrofluorocarbons in bulk on the market in the European Union in 2021

(2020/C 40/09)

1. This Notice is addressed to any undertaking wishing to make a declaration to place hydrofluorocarbons in bulk on the market in the Union in 2021, in accordance with Articles 16(2) and 16(4) of Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) (hereafter ‘the Regulation’).

2. Hydrofluorocarbons means substances listed in Section 1 of Annex I to the Regulation, or mixtures containing any of these substances: HFC-23, HFC-32, HFC-41, HFC-125, HFC-134, HFC-134a, HFC-143, HFC-143a, HFC-152, HFC-152a, HFC-161, HFC-227ea, HFC-236cb, HFC-236ea, HFC-236fa, HFC-245ca, HFC-245fa, HFC-365mfc, HFC-43-10mee.

3. Any placing on the market of these substances, except for the uses listed in Article 15(2) points (a) to (f) of the Regulation or a total annual quantity of these substances of less than 100 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year, is subject to quantitative limits under the quota system laid down in Articles 15 and 16 as well as Annexes V and VI to the Regulation.

4. Importers must at the time of release for free circulation of HFCs have a valid registration as importers of bulk HFCs in the ‘F-Gas Portal and HFC Licensing System’ (2) in accordance with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/661 (3). Such a registration is considered an obligatory licence for import. A similar licence is needed for exporting HFCs (4).

5. Importers should be specified as ‘Consignee’ (box 8) on the Single Administrative Document (SAD). Importers are strongly encouraged to specify the amounts of HFCs in CO2 equivalents at the time of release for free circulation directly in the SAD (box 44) as this may greatly facilitate the custom clearance of their goods and establishment of their compliance with Regulation (EU) No 517/2014.

6. According to Annex VI to the Regulation, the sum of the quotas allocated on the basis of reference values is subtracted from the maximum quantity available for 2021 to determine the quantity to be allocated from this reserve.

7. All data submitted by companies, quotas and reference values are stored in the electronic ‘F-Gas Portal and HFC Licensing System’. All data in the F-Gas Portal and HFC Licensing System including quotas, reference values, commercial and personal data will be treated as confidential by the European Commission.

8. Undertakings wishing to obtain quota from this reserve need to follow the procedure described in points 9 to 12 of this Notice.

9. According to Articles 16(2) and 17(1) of the Regulation, the undertaking needs to have a valid registration profile, approved by the Commission in accordance with Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/661, as a producer and/or importer of hydrofluorocarbons in the online ‘F-gas Portal and HFC Licensing System’. In order to ensure due treatment of the application for registration, including the possible need for additional information, such an application must be made at the very latest one month before the start of the declaration period, i.e. before 14 March 2020 (see point 10). For any applications received after this deadline it cannot be ensured that a final decision on the application for registration can be made before the end of the declaration period (see point 10). For companies that are not yet registered, guidance on how to register is available on the DG CLIMA website (5).

10. The undertaking must make a declaration on anticipated quantities for 2021 in the ‘F-Gas Portal and HFC Licensing System’ in the declaration period from 14 April to 14 May 2020, 13.00 CET.

11. Only duly completed declarations that are free of errors and received before 14 May 2020, 13.00 CET will be considered as valid by the Commission.

12. Based on these declarations, the Commission will allocate quota to these undertakings in accordance with Article 16(2), 16(4) and 16(5) as well as Annexes V and VI to the Regulation.

13. Article 7 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/661 stipulates that for the purpose of the quota allocation for placing hydrofluorocarbons on the market pursuant to Article 16(5) of Regulation (EU) No 517/2014, all undertakings with the same beneficial owner(s) shall be considered as one single declarant in accordance with Article 16(2) and (4) of the Regulation.

14. The Commission will inform the undertakings about the total allocated quota for 2021 via the ‘F-Gas Portal & HFC Licensing System’.

15. The registration in the ‘F-Gas Portal & HFC Licensing System’ and/or a declaration on intention to place hydrofluorocarbons on the market in 2021 by itself does not give any right to place hydrofluorocarbons on the market in 2021.

(1) Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on fluorinated greenhouse gases and repealing Regulation (EC) No 842/2006 (OJ L 150, 20.5.2014, p. 195).

(2) The registry set up in accordance with Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 517/2014: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/ods2/resources/domain

(3) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/661 of 25 April 2019 ensuring the smooth functioning of the electronic registry for quotas for placing hydrofluorocarbons on the market (OJ L 112, 26.4.2019, p. 11)

(4) See also Article 1.2 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1375 (OJ L 194, 26.7.2017, p. 4).

(5) https://ec.europa.eu/clima/sites/clima/files/f-gas/docs/guidance_document_en.pdf