S.I. No. 170/1999 - European Communities (Energy Labelling of Household Lamps) Regulations, 1999.

1. Energy efficiency class (Schedule 1, Note 1)

Expressed as “Energy efficiency class ...on a scale of A (more efficient) to G (less efficient)”. Where this information is provided in a table this may be expressed by other means provided it is clear that the scale is from A (more efficient) to G (less efficient).

2. Luminous flux of the lamp (Schedule I, Note II)

3. Input power (Schedule I, Note III)

4. Average rated life of lamp (Schedule I, Note IV) (Where no other information on the life of the lamp is given in the catalogue, this may be omitted).

SCHEDULE 4

Regulation 2

(2)

The energy efficiency class of a lamp shall be determined as follows

Lamps shall be classified in class A if

— Fluorescent lamps without integral ballast

(those requiring a ballast and/or other control gear to connect them to the mains)

W ≤ 0.15 √ϕ+0.0097 ϕ

— Other lamps

W ≤ 0.24 √ϕ+0.0103 ϕ

where ϕ is the lumen output of the lamp

where W is the power input into the lamp in watts.

If a lamp is not classified in class A, a reference wattage W

R

shall be calculated as follows

W

R

=0.88 √ϕ+0.049 ϕ when ϕ > 34 lumens

0.2 ϕ, when ϕ ≤ 34 lumens

where ϕ is the lumen output of the lamp.

An energy efficiency index E

1

is then set as

E

1

=

W

—

W

R

where W is the power input into the lamp in watts.

The energy efficiency classes are then set in accordance with the following table

Energy efficiency class

Energy efficiency index E

1

B

E

1

< 60%

C

60% ≤ E

1

< 80%

D

80% ≤ E

1

< 95%

E

95% ≤ E

1

< 110%

F

110% ≤ E

1

< 130%

G

E

1

≥ 130%

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 10th day of June, 1999.

MARY O'ROURKE,

Minister for Public Enterprise.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

The purpose of the Regulations is to give legal effect to Commission Directive 98/11 of 27th January, 1998 and Council Directive 92/75/EEC of 22nd September, 1992 in so far as they relate to household lamps.

These Regulations apply to lamps. Certain lamps are excluded.

The Regulations prohibit the placing on the market, for sale, hire or reward, of lamps unless accompanied by information relating to the consumption of electric energy in addition to some supplementary information. This information is to be conveyed to the customer by means of a specified label and an associated fiche (product information notice). The Regulations place the onus for the accuracy of the labels and fiches on the manufacturers, who will also be required to establish technical documentation sufficient to enable the accuracy of the information contained in the labels and the fiches to be assessed.

Provision is made for the appointment and powers of authorised officers and penalties for offences under the Regulations, in addition to a transitional period to facilitate those who have been unable or have not had a reasonable opportunity to comply with the Regulations.

1

O.J. No. L71, 10.3.1998, p.1.

2

O.J. No. L297, 13.10.1992, p.16.

1

O.J. No. L71, 10.3.1998, p.1.

2

O.J. No. L297, 13.10.1992, p.16.

3

Where product brochures are not supplied, the label provided with the product can also be considered to be the fiche.

5. (1) A dealer shall not offer a lamp for sale, hire or hire-purchase or display it to end-users unless—

(

a

) a label, in the English language version, has been placed or printed on, or attached to, the outside of the individual packaging of the lamp in such a way as to be clearly visible and not obscured (Schedule 1 specifies how the label should be displayed in the case of very small packaging) or

(

b

) a fiche, in the English language version, is supplied with the lamp and is available for inspection by end-users before a sale or an agreement for hire or hire-purchase is concluded.

(2) Where a dealer offers a lamp for sale, hire or hire-purchase by means of a printed communication, such as a mail order or other catalogue, or in circumstances that imply that the potential customer cannot be expected to see the lamp displayed, the dealer shall ensure that the printed communication includes all the information specified in Schedule 3 and is in the English language version.

(3) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in relation to a lamp offered for sale, hire or hire-purchase by a dealer during the period ending on the 31st day of December, 2000.

(4) A dealer who fails to comply with this Regulation shall be guilty of an offence.

(5) A label or fiche shall be deemed to comply with these Regulations and the Directives unless there is evidence to the contrary.

Compliance.

6. (1) Subject to paragraph (2), a person who displays labels, marks, symbols or inscriptions relating to energy consumption which do not comply with the requirements of these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence if the display is likely to mislead or confuse.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to displays for the purpose of Community or national environmental labelling schemes.

Authorised Officers.

7. (1) The Minister may appoint such and so many persons as he or she may determine to be authorised officers for the purposes of these Regulations.

(2) An authorised officer may, at all reasonable times, on production, if so requested by any person affected, of his or her warrant of appointment—

(

a

) enter any premises or other place or any vehicle if he or she reasonably believes that a lamp is kept therein or thereon for the purpose of being placed on the market,

(

b

) inspect the premises or other place or the vehicle,

(

c

) carry out or have carried out such examinations, tests, inspections and checks of any lamps found there as he or she reasonably considers to be necessary for the purposes of his or her functions and, if he or she so thinks fit, remove or have removed from there any lamp and retain the lamp for a reasonable period to facilitate such testing.

(

d

) require any person on or at the premises or other place or the vehicle to give to the officer any information in the person's power or control that the officer may reasonably require and to produce to him or her any records (in whatever form kept) or books or documents (including labels and fiches) that are in the person's power or control.

(

e

) inspect and copy or extract information from any data (within the meaning of the

Data Protection Act, 1988

) found by or produced to the officer under this Regulation,

(

f

) inspect and take copies of, or extracts from, any records (in whatever form kept), books or documents (including labels and fiches) found by or produced to the officer under this Regulation.

(3) If an authorised officer has reason to suspect that the information on a label or fiche is inaccurate, he or she may require the supplier concerned to furnish evidence (including technical documentation referred to in Regulation 4(1)) concerning its accuracy.

(4) A person who obstructs or impedes an authorised officer in the exercise of a power or, without reasonable excuse, does not comply with a requirement of an authorised officer under these Regulations or who, in purported compliance with such a requirement, gives information to an authorised officer that he or she knows to be false or misleading in a material respect shall be guilty of an offence.

Penalties and Offences.

8. (1) A person guilty of an offence under these Regulations shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500.

(2) Where an offence under these Regulations is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent and connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any person, being a director, manager, secretary or other officer, of such a body, or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, that person, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he were guilty of the first-mentioned offence.

(3) Proceedings for an offence under these Regulations may be brought by the Minister.

SCHEDULE 1

Regulation 2

(1)

THE LABEL

Label Design

I, MARY O'ROURKE, Minister for Public Enterprise, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by

section 3

of the

European Communities Act, 1972

(No. 27 of 1972), and for the purposes of giving effect to Commission Directive 98/11 of 27 January, 1998

1

and to Council Directive 92/75/EEC of 22 September 1992

2

, in so far as it applies to household lamps, hereby make the following Regulations

Citation.