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F-GAS LEGISLATION ENTERS INTO FORCE

02 June 2014

The revised F-gas Regulation 517 (2014), repealing the former Regulation 842 (2006) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 20 May 2014.

It will enter into force 20 days after its publication, and shall apply from 1 January 2015. In addition to the legal text, the European Commission is now preparing the necessary implementing acts in order to make sure that the Regulation will be properly applicable by January. Additional national measures will be needed to implement, among others, its provisions on penalties for non-compliance.

The Regulation establishes the following main measures:

  • Cap and phase-down for the placing on the market of HFCs (in tons of CO2 equivalent), with a freeze in 2015 followed by a first reduction in 2016-2017, and reaching 21 percent of the levels placed on the market in 2009-2012 by 2030.
  • Bans or restrictions based on GWP of the use of F-gases in some new equipment, such as refrigerators and air conditioners, insulating foams and technical aerosols.
  • Conditions (for example, reporting on quantities of HFCs contained and the need for HFC import quotas) on the placing on the market of products and equipment containing or relying upon F-gases.
  • Future restrictions on servicing/maintenance of equipment using HFCs.
  • Rules regarding containment, use, recovery and destruction of HFCs.

The aim of the agreed regulation is to reduce F-gas emissions by two-thirds of today's levels by 2030 and to encourage the use of viable and lower GWP alternatives where they are readily available.

 

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