Irish WEEE Registration Still Possible
Of the 18 EU member states that have made significant progress in transposing the WEEE directive into law, a handful are way ahead of the rest. Ireland has been registering businesses for some time, and though the initial deadline has passed, the Emerald Isles are prepared to let a few more slip in, if you hurry.
The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government transposed the WEEE directive into Irish law by July 6th, 2005. The department also made arrangements for a registration through the National WEEE Registration Body. And they have been feverishly registering businesses ever since. As of July 20, 2005, the registration period for 2005 came to a close.
I was curious about the significance of this deadline and I wrote to the registration body at weeeregister@gmail.com. The address is the one publicized to request an application to register. I received a prompt reply from Mr. Alex Mc Sweeney explaining that it would be possible to register more businesses for a short period of time. And please hurry. He also provided an information page that clearly explains the WEEE registration process and a copy of the registration form. Both appear below.
Note that the deadline is for registration for the remainder of 2005, notably from 13 August 2005 to 31 December 2005. Annual registration is required. The starting date for 2006 registration has not yet been announced.
While visiting the department's WEEE page, I examined the document on retailer responsibility. This file is aimed at local businesses in Ireland. Any business that sells WEEE is required to register and is considered a distributor under the law. Interestingly, if a local retailer sells products from a producer that fails to register, then the retailer automatically takes on all the producer responsibility obligations for the equipment.
If your company, as a producer, cannot show proof of registration and WEEE compliance, you can bet that Irish retailers will have no interest in carrying your products. If anyone needs one more justification for a comprehensive compliance program, here it is.
Ireland's Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government
