Verification return delivery with border-crossing purchase (binding requirement)

Status 24th October 2015

1. Legal Foundations

According to § 27 paragraph 1 clause 1 number 1 ElektroG a producer/authorised representative must in principle report the amounts of electrical and electronic equipment they place on the market to stiftung ear. But this can be reduced by the amount of return deliveries with a border-crossing purchase if the approproate proof by the producer/authorised representative is submitted.

Such a deduction can be considered in the following two situations:

  • Case 1: A producer places electrical and electronic equipment on the market in Germany. This equipment is returned to the producer. Now the German trader places the returned equipment amounts on the market abroad within the EU
  • Case 2: A German producer (Importer) places electrical and electronic equipment on the market in Germany. The equipment is returned to the importer. The importer then returns the equipment back to the supplier abroad.

Precondition to deducting return amounts with such border-crossing purchases according to § 27 paragraph 1 clause 1 number 1 ElektroG is that the electrical and electronic equipment is effectively not in the waste stream in Germany, although originally placed on the market in Germany. Only then is a deduction justified. It must be taken into consideration, though, that a deduction of taken-back amounts cannot be made by the producer / authorised representative when reporting the amounts placed on the market according to § 27 paragraph 1 clause 1 number 1 ElektroG (e.g. by ‘independently’ reducing the amounts for future monthly amount reports), as the respective amounts were originally placed on the market in the Federal Republic of Germany. A deduction can in fact only by made by stiftung ear after submitted documentation  of the return with border-crossing purchase equaling an ‘amount correction’. 

The producer/authorised representative can report amounts as deduction amounts to stiftung ear,

  • for which a guarantee/b2c equipment) was to be submitted;
  • as far as the producer/authorised representative is registered with this type of equipment;
  • as far as after take-back of the electrical and electronic equipment it is exported to another EU member state again; should products be reimported, these respective amounts must be reported as again placed on the market according to § 3 No. 8 ElektroG
  • as far as this amount of returned electrical and electronic equipment was reported originally effectively to stiftung ear as placed on the market in this type of equipment by the producer according to § 27 paragraph 1 clause 1 number 1 ElektroG and
  • as far as this electrical and electronic equipment was not waste equipment according to ElektroG at the time of return, 
  • as far as the documentation (see below 3) for the amount report of the border-crossing returned electrical and electronic equipment for the preceding calendar year is submitted by the latest 30th April of the following year. 

2. Documentation

The producer/authorised representative must submit proof of the returns with a border-crossing purchase with the following documentation:

  • Delivery slips, consignment notes or delivery receipts on the distribution channels of the electrical and electronic equipment from the placing on the market by the producer/authorised representative in Germany to the export of the returned equipment. 
  • Calculation of the amounts border-crossing returns to be counted on the basis of own information and that from the user or distributor. 

Documentation must be made for each type of equipment individually with which the producer/authorised representative is registered and in which they took back electrical and electronic equipment and exported it across borders, as well as individually for each member state into which the electrical and electronic equipment was returned or respectively exported. 

3. Requirements towards confirmation by an independent expert according to § 27 paragraph 3 clause 4 ElektroG

The producer/authorised representative must have the amount of returns with border-crossing purchase obligatorally confirmed towards stiftung ear by an independent expert. The following must be stated in the confirmation by the independent expert:

  • Examination procedure;
  • list of submitted documents, as well as
  • amounts of electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market in Germany, as well as the exported returns.

The expert should come to a final assessment on the following points:

Examination assessment after examination of border-crossing returns according to § 37 clause 1 number 1 and 4, § 31 paragraph 6 clause 5 ElektroG analogue Requirements fulfilled?
Yes/no/partially

The electrical and electronic equipment was exported to another EU member state after take-back.

  

This is the amount that was originally effectively reported to stiftung ear as that placed on the market in this type of equipment by the producer according to § 27 paragraph 1 clause 1 number 1 ElektroG. 

  

This is the amount that was originally effectively reported to stiftung ear as that placed on the market in this type of equipment by the producer/authorised representative according to § 27 paragraph 1 clause 1 number 1 ElektroG.

  

The electrical and electronic equipment was not waste equipment according to ElektroG at the time of return.

  

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