The Energy Information Regulations 2011

PART 1 Introductory

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Energy Information Regulations 2011 and come into force on 20th July 2011.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“authorised person” means a person authorised by the market surveillance authority in accordance with regulation 5;

“the Directive” means Directive 2010/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the indication by labelling and standard product information of the consumption of energy and other resources by energy-related products(1);

“EU measure” means, in relation to a product mentioned in column 1 of the table in Schedule 1, the corresponding EU measure referred to in column 2 of that table;

“local weights and measures authority” means in England, Wales and Scotland a local weights and measures authority within the meaning of section 69 of the Weights and Measures Act 1985(2);

“market surveillance authority” has the meaning given in regulation 4; and

“RAMS” means Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council setting out the requirements for accreditation and market surveillance relating to the marketing of products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 339/93(3).

(2) Expressions not defined in paragraph (1) which are used in these Regulations and—

(a) in an EU measure;

(b) in the Directive; or

(c) in RAMS,

have the meaning they bear in that EU measure, Directive or RAMS.

Scope

3.—(1) These Regulations apply to energy-related products which have a significant direct or indirect impact on the consumption of energy and, where relevant, on other essential resources during use.

(2) These Regulations do not apply to—

(a) second-hand products;

(b) any means of transport for persons or goods;

(c) the rating plate or its equivalent affixed for safety purposes to products.

PART 2 Enforcement

Enforcement

4.—(1) The local weights and measures authority, and in relation to Northern Ireland the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment, enforce regulation 8 (responsibilities of dealers), regulation 9 (information requirements) and RAMS.

(2) The Secretary of State enforces regulation 7 (responsibilities of suppliers), regulation 9, regulation 10 (misleading information) and RAMS.

(3) Each of these is referred to as a “market surveillance authority”.

Authorised persons

5.  A market surveillance authority may authorise in writing any person who appears suitable to act on its behalf to carry out any of its functions and to exercise any of the powers or duties conferred by these Regulations or RAMS.

Schedules

6.  The following have effect—

(a) Schedule 1 (EU measures);

(b) Schedule 2 (powers of entry and warrants);

(c) Schedule 3 (testing);

(d) Schedule 4 (civil sanctions).

PART 3 Responsibilities of suppliers and dealers

Responsibilities of suppliers

7.—(1) When placing on the market or putting into service products regulated by an EU measure, suppliers must—

(a) supply a label and a fiche which comply with these Regulations and the EU measure;

(b) produce technical documentation which is sufficient to enable the accuracy of the information contained in the label and the fiche to be assessed.

(2) The documentation in paragraph (1)(b) must include—

(a) a general description of the product;

(b) if relevant, the results of design calculations;

(c) if available, test reports including those carried out by the relevant notified organisations;

(d) if values are used for similar models, the references allowing identification of those models.

(3) Suppliers must—

(a) make the documentation available for inspection purposes for a period of at least 5 years beginning with the date the last product was manufactured;

(b) make available an electronic version of the documentation on request to the market surveillance authority and to the European Commission within 10 working days of receipt of a request by the market surveillance authority or the Commission;

(c) provide the labels free of charge to dealers;

(d) deliver labels promptly upon request from dealers;

(e) provide the fiche free of charge; and

(f) include a fiche in any product brochure.

(4) If the product brochures in paragraph (3)(f) are not provided by the supplier, the supplier must provide fiches in any literature provided with the product.

(5) A supplier must ensure that any information contained on any label or in any fiche is accurate.

(6) Suppliers are deemed to consent to the publication of the information provided on any label or fiche.

Responsibilities of dealers

8.—(1) Dealers must make the fiche available in the product brochure or any literature which accompanies the product when sold to end-users.

(2) When a product is displayed, dealers must attach the label in the clearly visible position specified in the EU measure.

PART 4 Information

Information requirements

9.—(1) Any person who offers any products regulated by an EU measure for sale, hire or hire-purchase or displays to end-users directly or indirectly by any means of distance selling, including the internet must bring to the attention of end-users information relating to the consumption of electric energy, and where relevant other essential resources during use, and any other supplementary information, by means of—

(a) the fiche; and

(b) the label related to the products,

in accordance with the EU measure.

(2) A person who builds in or installs a product must display such information if required by the EU measure.

(3) Any person who advertises a specific model of a product regulated by an EU measure must, when energy-related or price information is disclosed, include a reference to the energy efficiency class of the product as set out in the EU measure.

(4) Any person who provides technical promotional material to end-users which describes the specific technical parameters of a product regulated by an EU measure including technical manuals and manufacturers’ brochures whether printed or online must—

(a) provide end-users with information regarding the energy consumption of that product; or

(b) include a reference to the energy efficiency class of that product as set out in the EU measure.

Misleading information

10.  A person must not display any label, mark, symbol or inscription which does not comply with the requirements of the Directive, these Regulations or an EU measure if the display is likely to mislead or confuse end-users with respect to the consumption of energy or, where relevant, other essential resources during use.

PART 5 Offences and penalties

Offences and penalties

11.—(1) It is an offence for any person to contravene any of regulations 7 to 10.

(2) Any person guilty of an offence under paragraph (1) is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine.

Obstruction etc.

12.—(1) It is an offence for any person—

(a) intentionally to fail to comply with any instruction given by an authorised person acting in pursuance of their powers or duties under these Regulations or RAMS;

(b) intentionally to obstruct an authorised person acting in pursuance of their powers or duties under these Regulations or RAMS;

(c) knowingly or recklessly to make a statement which is false or misleading in purported compliance with any requirement imposed under these Regulations or RAMS;

(d) without reasonable cause fail to give an authorised person any other assistance or information which that authorised person may reasonably require for the purposes of the exercise of their powers or duties under these Regulations or RAMS.

(2) Any person guilty of an offence under paragraph (1) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

(3) In this regulation, “powers or duties” includes powers or duties exercisable by virtue of a warrant under Schedule 2.

Time limit for prosecution of offences

13.—(1) An offence under these Regulations may be tried by summary proceedings if—

(a) in England and Wales, the information is laid;

(b) in Northern Ireland, the complaint is made; or

(c) in Scotland, the proceedings are begun,

before the end of the period of 12 months beginning on the day after the date on which evidence which the market surveillance authority thinks is sufficient to justify the proceedings comes to the market surveillance authority’s knowledge.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)—

(a) a certificate signed by or on behalf of the prosecutor and stating the date on which such evidence came to the market surveillance authority’s knowledge is to be conclusive evidence of that fact; and

(b) a certificate stating that matter and purporting to be so signed is to be treated as so signed unless the contrary is proved.

Bodies corporate

14.—(1) If an offence under these Regulations committed by a body corporate is proved—

(a) to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer, or

(b) to be attributable to any neglect on the part of the officer,

the officer, as well as the body corporate, is guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(2) “Officer”, in relation to a body corporate, means—

(a) a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body, or

(b) a person purporting to act in any such capacity.

(3) If the affairs of the body corporate are managed by its members, paragraph (1) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with the member’s functions of management as it applies to an officer of a body corporate.

(4) If an offence under these Regulations committed by a partnership in Scotland is proved—

(a) to have been committed with the consent or connivance of a partner, or

(b) to be attributable to any neglect on the part of the partner,

the partner as well as the partnership is guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(5) In paragraph (4) “partner” includes a person purporting to act as a partner.

Recovery of expenses of enforcement

15.—(1) This regulation applies where a court convicts a person of an offence under these Regulations.

(2) The court may (in addition to any other order it may make as to costs or expenses) order the person convicted to reimburse the market surveillance authority for any expenditure which it or any authorised person has reasonably incurred in investigating the offence, including in purchasing, testing or examining any product, or any part of it, in respect of which the offence was committed.

PART 6 Revocations and review

Revocations

16.  The Regulations in column 1 of the table in Schedule 5 are revoked on the corresponding date in column 3 of that table.

Review

17.—(1) Before the end of each review period, the Secretary of State must—

(a) carry out a review of these Regulations;

(b) set out the conclusions of the review in a report; and

(c) publish the report.

(2) In carrying out the review the Secretary of State must, so far as is reasonable, have regard to how the Directive is implemented in other member States.

(3) The report must in particular—

(a) set out the objectives intended to be achieved by the regulatory system established by these Regulations;

(b) assess the extent to which those objectives are achieved; and

(c) assess whether those objectives remain appropriate and, if so, the extent to which they could be achieved with a system that imposes less regulation.

(4) In this regulation “review period” means—

(a) the period of 5 years beginning with the day on which these Regulations come into force; and

(b) subject to paragraph (5), each successive period of 5 years.

(5) If a report under this regulation is published before the last day of the review period to which it relates, the following review period begins with the day on which that report is published.

Henley

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

20th June 2011