STATUS OF NEW EU DIRECTIVES

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Predrag Šinik, EU Directives committee chairman

• STATUS OF NEW EU DIRECTIVES

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EFEE

• 25 STATE MEMBERS
• Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech republic,
  Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
  Hungary, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg,
  Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia,
  Slovak republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,
  Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom.
• COMPANY AND INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS
• 14 company members 56 individual members,
• STANDING COMMITTEES
• Finance Audit, Conference, Elections, EUExcert,
  Newsletter, Membership Marketing, Environmenta,
  Constitution By-laws, Shot firing and EU
  Directives comitee.

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Board members of EU Directives Committee

• Predrag Šinik, chairman, EFEE board member
  (Slovenia)
• Jörg Rennert, EFEE board member (Germany)
• Jose Carlos Gois, EFEE board member (Portugal)
• Manfred Dax, member
• Johan Finsteen Gjødvad, EFEE board member
  (Denmark)
• Ricardo Chavez, member (France)
• Igor Kopal, member (Slovakia)
• Jan Klusacek, member (Czech Republic)
• Krzyzstof Pietkiewicz, member (Poland)
• Edmond Rosseau, member (Belgium)
• Rolf Schillinger, member (Germany)

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Work programe 2009

• Enhancing the Security of Explosives in the
  European Union
• a. Implementation of the Commission Directive
  2008/43/EC (Labelling and Traceability Directive)
• b. TRANSPORT SCEPYLT, the Pan-European
  Information System on Explosives Control to
  Prevent and Fight against Terrorism
• c. The own use on site mixing explosives -
  Certification of onsite mixed
• Explosives
• d. The Explosives Notified Bodies
• e. Update on the Action Plan on enhancing the
  security of explosives

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Action Plan on Enhancing the Security of
Explosives

• On 25 March 2004 the European Council established
  as a priority the need "to ensure terrorist
  organisations and groups are starved of the
  components of their trade". The European Council
  noted in particular that there is a need to
  ensure greater security of firearms, explosives,
  bomb-making equipment and technologies".
• One of the key measures undertaken was the
  setting up of an Explosives Security Experts Task
  Force (ESETF), with a view to preparing
  recommendations for actions. The ESETF completed
  its work in June 2007 with the identification of
  50 recommendations for actions. These
  recommendations form the basis for the Action
  Plan.
• The objective of the Action Plan is to combat the
  use of explosive devices by terrorists within the
  EU. This will be done while taking full account
  of relevant economic issues.
• The Action Plan is built on three pillars
  (prevention, detection and response containing
  specific measures), explosive precursors, the
  supply chain (storage, transport, traceability)
  and detection.

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Cooperation within EU
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Main tasks of the EU Directives Committee

• follow up directives, regulations and
  legislation on EU level
• review of the current situation within EU
  concerning explosives and transport of other
  dangerous goods
• monitoring of the EU legislation concerning the
  fight against terrorism
• informing our members
• co-operation with related associations
• security in the field of explosives technology
• collaboration on regulations for the transport
  of explosives by road
• promotion of the profession.

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• The importance of Track Trace Directive
  2008/43/EC of 4 April 2008
• setting up, pursuant to Council Directive
  93/15/EEC,
• a system for the identification and traceability
• of explosives for civil uses.

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Background

• The main purpose of the Track Trace Directive
  2008/43/EC is to establish a harmonised system
  for the unique identification and traceability of
  packaged civil explosives in Europe and to ensure
  safe and secured circulation of explosives on the
  community market.
• Directive applies to explosives in cartridges,
  primers / boosters, detonating cord, detonators,
  shaped charges and other physical explosives
  article.
• Requirement of the TT Directive is to uniquely
  identify every explosives article upon
  manufacture, track and record its whereabouts at
  all times throughout the items life cycle and
  maintain these records for a period of 10 years
  after they have passed through your possession.
• Each company throughout the supply chain handling
  (ie, manufacturing, storing, transporting or
  using) the explosives items must have
  arrangements in place to meet the requirements.

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Posture in the year 2009

• One human life in the fight against terrorism is
  worth 1 - 1,5 mio eur the damage.
• This argument showed the necessity of quick
  implementation of the Directive 2008/43/EC with
  no possibility of its postponement.
• Implementation date 5 April 2012.
• (political decision with no possible
  postponement)

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But we started the activities and filled
application for postponement

• Due to the complexity of the TT Directive we
  started several activities to
• present our arguments for the postponement of the
  implementation date to
• the year 2013 - 2015.
• In summer 2010 EFFE (for the first time)
  initiated Koln meeting of 4 associations FEEM
  (Federation of European Explosive Manufacturers),
  EUROMINES (European Association of Mining
  Industries), UEPG (European Aggregates
  Association) and EFEE.
• settlement of common postures postponement till
  the year 2015
• letters to European Commision
• on-going in-depth cooperation of four
  associations

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Some of our arguments were

• application area (safety fuses, primer caps, ),
  supply chain (producers, distributors, end
  users), small articles, health and safety issue,
  educational level, economic effect
• difficulties with translation in different
  languages of the member states (different
  interpretations)
• a review of the application area of the Directive
  should be performed
• many national Federation gave no support to the
  members in implementing the track and
  traceability directive
• many members did not know anything about any
  activities regarding softwear for data collection
  system in their country
• the Commissions Directive 2008/43/EC was not
  adopted and published by 5th of April 2009 in
  several member states

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And also

• Close to 700.000 tons of explosives and 80
  million detonators are detonated every year in
  Europe for civil purposes. Almost all of these
  explosives are manufactured, transported, stored
  and used without causing any major incident or
  alarm to the general public.
• The safety security record of the explosives
  industry is considerably higher than almost any
  other industry of a similar nature.
• These volumes represent 350 million separate
  explosives items annually (packaged explosives,
  detonators, detonating cord, boosters, primers
  etc. without bulk explosives) with a value of
  1.500 million Euro. Within the Supply Chain
  (manufacturer carrier - dealer distributor
  end user) these items change location 3 to 4
  times. The frequency of civil explosive shipments
  in EU-Europe is around 500.000 movements per year
  (not including pyrotechnics, military and hunting
  sporting ammunitions).

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• In view of these issues EFEE recommended a
  postponement of the application of
• the Directive from 5 April 2012 to 5 April 2015
  as far as the entire
• supply chain is concerned.
• For manufacturers and importers of explosives,
  the marking obligation should
• already start in April 2013 in order to ensure
  that by 2015 all stocks are marked
• with the unique identification.

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Activities

• EU Directives Committee contacted FEEM
  (Federation of European Explosive Manufacturers),
  EUROMINES (European Association of Mining
  Industries), UEPG (European Aggregates
  Association), ESETF (Explosives Security Experts
  Task Force), Deutscher Sprengverband e.V., FECC
  (European Federation of Chemical Distributors),
  EFMA (European Fertilizer Manufacturers
  Association), AIC (Agricultural Industries
  Confederation) and all national associations
• Before and after the publishing of the TT
  Directive FEEM had a number of meetings with the
  relevant EU Commissions and Competent Authorities
  / Notified Bodies of the majority of the larger
  EU countries concerning the consequences of the
  Track Trace Directive to the Explosives
  Industry, their distributors and end-users.
• Letters to the European Commission
  Directorate-General Industry Enterprise in
  Brussels
• FEEM wrote a letter on 23 August 2010 applying
  officially for a postponement amendment of the
  Directive 2008/43/EC of 4 April 2008
• UEPG wrote a letter to the European Commission on
  8 September 2010
• EFEE wrote a letter on 10 October 2010.

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Action plan
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With the Commission we agreed to the following
compromise

• Manufacturers have to label mark according to
  the regulations of the Directive as of 5 April
  2013 (all products manufactured after that date
  must be marked).
• For all other down-stream users in the supply
  chain (dealers, distributors, end users) and for
  all old stocks in manufacturers inventories the
  Directive will apply from 5 April 2015.
• New draft Directive allows that the required
  information is being affixed on the smallest
  packaging unit (certain articles which are too
  small to affix the code of the manufacturing site
  and the electronically readable information or
  where affixing a unique identification is
  technically impossible due to their shape, design
  or specification).
• Very small articles 8 mm regulation.
• 4. FEEM, together with the user industries,
  should draw up an implementation plan in order to
  justify the length of the requested deadline
  prolongation and to provide assurance that the
  new labelling and traceability system will be
  fully operational by 5 April 2015.

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After the Norwegian bombing

• Swedish Secretary of Justice expressed her doubts
  if the postponement of the Track Trace
  Directive would be beneficial to the enhanced
  security requirements.
• EU Director General for Home Affairs consulted DG
  Industry Enterprise for further explanations
  why the postponement would be necessary.
• On 8 September 2011 we received a draft of DG
  Industry Enterprises letter for further
  comments. DG Industry Enterprise is completely
  supporting ours argumentation towards FEEMs
  proposal to delay the implementation of the
  Directive to April 2013/2015.

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Next steps

• Delegates to the next EU explosives working group
  meeting on 19 October 2011
• in Brussels will be asked for their (qualified
  majority) vote.
• If the vote is in favour of a delay the
  Commission will postulate a new Directive
• beginning of 2012 with the implementation dates
  2013/2015 which will be
• implemented into national legislation by 5 April
  2012.

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• Special thanks to
• Hans M. Meyer (FEEM president)
• Mike Schmahl (president of WG at EU commission)
• Jörg Rennert (Dresdner Sprengschule, EFEE member
  of the board)
• Manfred Dax (Sprewa, vice president of German
  blasting association)
• EFEE board and EU directives council members.

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END
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