Commercial Information Circulars

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e-mail address : enquiry@tid.gov.hk

Ref : EIC 230/2/12

11 October 2013

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 819/2013

European Union (EU)* : Limit Values for Lead, Barium, Arsenic, Antimony and Mercury in Toys

Further to Commercial Information Circular No. 227/2012 of 22 March 2012, the European Commission (the Commission) has adopted a Decision authorising that the national provisions notified by Germany concerning the limit values for antimony, arsenic, barium, lead and mercury in toys be maintained beyond 20 July 2013. Details are set out in the Commission Decision 2013/492/EU, which can be accessed through the following link :
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2013:267:0007:0008:EN:PDF

DETAILS

2.On 1 March 2013, the Commission adopted the Commission Decision 2012/160/EU disapproving the maintenance of the German national provisions regarding the limit values for arsenic, antimony and mercury. As for lead and barium, only provisional approval was granted until the entry into force of new Union limit values or until 21 July 2013, whichever date came first. The German Government thus brought an action for annulment of the Commission Decision before the General Court as well as applied for an interim relief requesting the provisional approval of the national provisions in maintaining the limit values for antimony, arsenic, barium, lead and mercury. In complying with the court order, the Commission authorized the German national provisions as a provisional decision pending the Court's decision in the main proceedings.

ENQUIRIES

3.For enquiries concerning the content of this circular, please contact the undersigned at telephone number 2398 5556.

Yours faithfully,
 

(Miss Anita WONG)

for Director-General of Trade and Industry

*The EU includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.