Producer Responsibility Obligations (Northern Ireland) Order 1998

Producer responsibility: supplementary provisions

4.—(1) Without prejudice to the generality of Article 3, regulations may, in particular, make provision for or with respect to—

(a) the classes or descriptions of person to whom the producer responsibility obligation imposed by the regulations applies;

(b) the classes or descriptions of products or materials in respect of which the obligation applies;

(c) the targets which are to be achieved with respect to the proportion (whether by weight, volume or otherwise) of the products or materials in question which are to be re-used, recovered or recycled, whether generally or in any prescribed way;

(d) particulars of the obligation imposed by the regulations;

(e) the registration of persons who are subject to a producer responsibility obligation and who are not members of registered exemption schemes, the imposition of requirements in connection with such registration, the variation of such requirements, the making of applications for such registration, the period for which any such registration is to remain in force and the cancellation of any such registration;

(f) the approval, or withdrawal of approval, of exemption schemes by the Department;

(g) the imposition of requirements on persons who are not members of registered exemption schemes to furnish certificates of compliance to the Department;

(h) the approval of persons by the Department for the purpose of issuing certificates of compliance;

(i) the registration of exemption schemes, the imposition of conditions in connection with such registration, the variation of such conditions, the making of applications for such registration and the period for which any such registration is to remain in force;

(j) the requirements which must be fulfilled, and the criteria which must be met, before an exemption scheme may be registered;

(k) the powers of the Department in relation to applications received by it for registration of exemption schemes;

(l) the cancellation of the registration of an exemption scheme;

(m) competition scrutiny of registered exemption schemes or of exemption schemes in whose case applications for registration have been received by the Department;

(n) the exclusion or modification of any provision of the [1976 c. 34 & 1977 c. 19.] Restrictive Trade Practices Acts 1976 and 1977 in relation to exemption schemes or in relation to agreements where at least one of the parties is an operator of an exemption scheme;

(o) the fees, or the method of determining the fees, which are to be paid to the Department—

(i) in respect of the approval of persons for the purpose of issuing certificates of compliance;

(ii) on the making of an application for registration of an exemption scheme;

(iii) in respect of the subsistence of the registration of that scheme;

(iv) on submission to the Department of a certificate of compliance;

(v) on the making of an application for, or for the renewal of, registration of a person required to register under the regulations;

(vi) in respect of the renewal of the registration of that person;

(p) appeals to the Planning Appeals Commission against the refusal of registration, the imposition of conditions in connection with registration, or the cancellation of the registration, of any exemption scheme;

(q) the procedure on any such appeal;

(r) cases, or classes of case,—

(i) in which an exemption scheme is, or is not, to be treated as registered; or

(ii) in which a person is, or is not, to be treated as a member of a registered exemption scheme,

pending the determination or withdrawal of an appeal, and otherwise with respect to the position of persons and exemption schemes pending such determination or withdrawal;

(s) the imposition on the Department of a duty to monitor compliance with any of the obligations imposed by the regulations;

(t) the imposition on prescribed persons of duties to maintain records, and furnish to the Department returns, in such form as may be prescribed of such information as may be prescribed for any purposes of, or for any purposes connected with, or related to, this Order or any regulations;

(u) the imposition on the Department of a duty to maintain, and make available for inspection by the public, a register containing prescribed information relating to registered exemption schemes or persons required to register under the regulations;

(v) the powers of entry and inspection which are exercisable by the Department in the performance of its functions under the regulations;

(w) the conferring on prescribed persons of power to require, for the purposes of or otherwise in connection with competition scrutiny, the provision by any person of any information which he has, or which he may at any future time acquire, relating to any exemption scheme or to any acts of an operator of such a scheme or of any person dealing with such an operator.

(2) If it appears to the Department—

(a) that any action proposed to be taken by the operator of a registered exemption scheme would be incompatible with—

(i) any obligations of the United Kingdom under the Community Treaties; or

(ii) any international agreement to which the United Kingdom is for the time being a party, or

(b) that any action which the operator of such a scheme has power to take is required for the purpose of implementing any such obligations or agreement,

the Department may direct that operator not to take or, as the case may be, to take the action in question.

(3) Persons issuing certificates of compliance shall act in accordance with guidance issued for the purpose by the Department, which may include guidance as to matters which are, or are not, to be treated as evidence of compliance or as evidence of non-compliance.

(4) In making any provision in relation to fees, regard shall be had to the desirability of securing that the fees received by the Department under the regulations are sufficient to meet the costs incurred by the Department in the performance of its functions under the regulations.

(5) Any fees received by the Department under regulations shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.