New legislative changes in environment and customs fields

Certificate of Recovery form introduced for shipments of waste within the Union

Delegated Regulation (EU) 2571/2024 supplementing Regulation (EU) 1157/2024 on shipments of waste within the Union has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union and is in force from October 16, 2024.

Regulation 2571/2024 introduces the template for the certificate attesting the completion of a subsequent interim or final recovery operation or a subsequent interim or final disposal operation.

As a reminder, no later than 30 days after the completion of the interim recovery or disposal operation and no later than one year from the date of receipt of the waste, the facility carrying out the operation shall provide a certificate to the notifier and the competent authorities that the operation has been completed.

What does this mean for you?

Economic operators should consider the new Regulation 2571/2024 and review their internal procedures regarding the documentation and information requirements in relation to shipments of waste within the Union.

Greenhouse gas emissions - new obligations for aircraft operators

The new Regulation (EU) 2493/2024 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2066/2018 on monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on September 27, 2024.

Among the most important changes, new obligations have been introduced for aircraft operators who will have to submit to the competent authority a separate report attached to the annual emissions report, covering non-CO2 aviation effects, from January 1, 2025.

“Non-CO2 aviation effects” means the effects on the climate of the release, during fuel combustion, of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), soot particles, oxidised sulphur species, and effects from water vapour, including contrails.

What does this mean for you?

We advise aircraft operators to consider the provisions of the new Regulation in order to meet their new obligations to monitor, calculate and report greenhouse gas emissions covering annual aviation effects other than CO₂ emissions.

Operating license of collective organizations for the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment ("EEE")

On October 15, 2024 was published on the website of the Ministry of the Environment, Water and Forests, the draft Order amending Order No. 1494/846/2016 for the approval of the procedure and criteria for the operating license, review, annual review and cancellation of the operating license for the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment.

Among the most important amendments we mention:

• The operating licenses that were issued before the publication of the Order in the Official Gazette will be valid until 31.12.2024. Collective organizations that hold an operating license on the date of entry into force of the Order and wish to continue their activity are required to submit a new application to the Commission no later than 45 days after the date of entry into force of the new Order;
• In order to obtain the operating license, the file will also have to contain the certificate of attestation of obligations to the Environmental Fund;
• Among the obligations to be fulfilled by the collective organizations, after obtaining the operating license, we mention:
  • to conduct internal audit supplemented by an independent audit;
  • to declare to the Commission any change in the geographical area in which they operate, no later than 10 days after the date of the change.

What does this mean for you?

We recommend economic operators that hold or want to apply for operating licenses for the management of EEE to consider the impact of the changes in the licensing process.

Cancellation procedure of some budgetary obligations to the Environment Fund

On October 30, 2024 was published on the website of the Administration of the Environmental Fund the Procedure for the Cancellation of some budgetary obligations to the Environmental Fund, according to the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 107/2024 for the regulation of some fiscal-budgetary measures.

The Administration of the Environmental Fund grants tax relief until the date of settlement of the request for cancellation of the accessory charges or until November 25, 2024 inclusive, among which we list:

• deferment of payment of accessory payment obligations remaining unpaid at the date of issuance of the tax certificate;
• cancellation of accessory payment obligations.

What does this mean for you?

We recommend that you consider whether you are in one of the situations described in the Procedure in order to determine whether the amnesty is applicable.

TRACES (Trade Control and Expert System)

The new Delegated Regulation (EU) 2104/2024 supplementing Regulation (EU) 625/2017 on the notification of certain goods entering the Union has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union and enters into force on March 3, 2025.

Among the most important changes we mention:

• Competent authorities will be able to require economic operators to notify the arrival of certain goods in addition to those subject to official controls at border inspection posts (e.g. products posing risks to human, animal or plant health);
• The arrival notification will be completed with standardized information in TRACES, e.g:
  • country of origin of the goods or the country in which they were grown, harvested or produced;
  • the intended destination of the consignment after the consignment leaves the border inspection post;
  • the country where the goods have been loaded on the means of final transport for the journey to the Union.
• The operators responsible for the transport will sign in TRACES with electronic signature the arrival notification containing the qualified electronic seal of the competent authorities.

What does this mean for you?

We recommend economic operators to analyze the provisions of the new Regulation.

The EY team is available for more details on the above.