The Regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste Management of the FBIH was published in the Official Gazette of the FBIH, No. 27/23, dated April 14, 2023, and will enter into force on the eighth day after its publication.
Below we present the regulation.
Based on Article 18a. paragraph (3) and Article 58 of the Law on Waste Management (“Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH”, No. 33/03, 72/09, 92/17), the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism hereby issues
RULES
ON PACKAGING AND PACKAGING WASTE MANAGEMENT
I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1.
(Scope of application and reference to directives)
(1) This Rulebook prescribes the rules for packaging management in the production, trade and use of packaging and the rules of procedure and other conditions for the collection, reuse, renewal and disposal of packaging waste, the obligations and responsibilities of participants in the packaging and packaging waste management system in accordance with the priorities and basic principles of the Law on Waste Management.
(2) The provisions of this Ordinance apply to all packaging produced or placed on the market, imported packaging and all packaging waste generated in industry, crafts, retail, service and other activities, in households, regardless of its origin, use and packaging material used, except for packaging with a long shelf life listed in Annex I to this Ordinance.
(3) This Ordinance shall be applied without prejudice to the applicable requirements for the quality of packaging, such as those relating to the safety, protection of human health and hygiene of packaging products.
(4) This Ordinance partially transposes the provisions of DIRECTIVE 94/62/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste (OJ L 365/10, 31.12.1994) – latest consolidated version, 04/07/2018.
(5) The provisions of the Directive referred to in paragraph (4) of this Article are cited solely for the purpose of monitoring and informing about the transposition of the EU acquis into the legislation of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Article 2.
(Exception from application)
The provisions of this Regulation shall not apply to containers for the transport of goods by road, rail, sea or air, as they are not considered packaging.
Article 3.
(Objective of the Rulebook)
The objective of this Rulebook is to ensure the management of packaging and packaging waste in a manner that achieves:
a) preservation of natural resources,
b) protection of the environment and human health,
c) development of modern packaging production technologies,
d) establishment of an optimal packaging and packaging waste management system,
e) functioning of the packaging and packaging products market in the territory of the Federation of BiH,
f) prevention of the creation of trade barriers, avoidance of distortions and restrictions in competition,
g) prevention of discrimination based on the type or content of packaging,
h) h) principles of the circular economy.
Article 4.
(Participants in the system)
(1) The following entities shall participate in the packaging and packaging waste management system:
a) The Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism (hereinafter referred to as: the Federal Ministry),
b) The Environmental Protection Fund of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter referred to as: the Fund),
c) Cantons and municipalities in accordance with Articles 25, 26, 27 and 28 of the Law on Waste Management, or their competent ministries of environment,
d) Competent inspection bodies for market and environmental supervision,
e) Manufacturers of products that package their products in packaging,
f) Importers of goods packaged in packaging,
g) Fillers and packers that package products in packaging and/or fill packaging,
h) Distributors that distribute products packaged in packaging,
i) Final suppliers (traders), including:
1) Entities that are engaged in the delivery service of packages that they pack into packaging,
2) Entities that are engaged in home delivery of food and consumer goods as intermediaries,
3) Entities that pack food or other consumer goods at the point of sale (restaurants, coffee-to-go, smoothie bars, florists, perfumes on tap, cinemas, gastro-departments) and that perform home delivery directly or through one of the above-mentioned sales services,
4) Economic entities that are engaged in internet sales, i.e. have so-called on-line sales.
j) End users who are obliged to join the system where this is organized.
k) Companies that are engaged in the collection, transport, recycling or recovery of waste, energy use, export, final disposal of waste that have permits for waste management activities and the type of waste they manage issued by the competent ministry;
l) Municipal companies that are engaged in the collection, transport and final disposal of municipal waste, including packaging waste, and that are authorized by the competent municipal or cantonal authority to perform waste management activities;
m) Operators of the packaging and packaging waste management system (hereinafter referred to as: system operators).
(2) The roles and obligations of individual participants are defined in the provisions of this Regulation.
Article 5.
(Purpose of the Regulation)
The basic rules for the management of packaging and packaging waste within the meaning of this Regulation are:
a) the division of responsibilities of all economic operators in accordance with the principle of an integrated approach and “extended producer responsibility” throughout the life cycle of packaging,
b) the prevention or reduction of the amount of packaging waste,
c) the reuse of packaging, recycling and other forms of renewal or reuse of packaging waste,
d) the creation of conditions for the establishment of a circular economy.
Article 6.
(Definitions)
(1) The terms specified in this Regulation have the following meaning:
a) Packaging is any product, regardless of the nature of the material from which it is made, which is intended for the containment, storage, protection, handling, delivery and presentation of goods, from raw materials to finished products, on the way from the producer to the user or consumer. Packaging also includes auxiliary packaging materials used for wrapping or binding goods, in particular for packaging, sealing, preparing for shipment and marking goods, as well as products that are an integral part of packaging and that are incorporated into the packaging as auxiliary parts and are part of the packaging or attached directly to the product and are not intended to be used as part of the product (a list of illustrative examples is provided in Annex 2 to this Regulation)
II. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DESIGN, PRODUCTION AND USE OF PACKAGING AND THE PLACING OF PACKAGING ON THE MARKET OF THE FEDERATION OF BIH
Article 7.
(General conditions)
(1) Reuse, recycling, energy recovery and other methods of packaging waste recovery have priority over its disposal if, at a reasonably higher cost, they are enabled by technologies and procedures that have been successfully tested in practice and are available on the market.
(2) The manufacturer or importer may place packaging on the market if the packaging meets the requirements for the production and composition of the packaging and for its reusability and recyclability, including recyclability, as set out in Articles 7 to 9 of this Regulation.
Article 8.
(Conditions for packaging design)
The following requirements shall be met when designing, manufacturing and using packaging:
a) The volume and mass of materials used for the production of the packaging shall be minimal, but sufficient to ensure the safety and health of the product, as well as the acceptability of the packaged product for the consumer.
b) Packaging shall be designed and manufactured in such a way that when it becomes packaging waste, it enables the recycling of the material in a certain percentage by weight. The percentages by weight shall depend on the type of packaging materials.
Article 9.
(Setting targets)
(1) When producing and placing on the market packaging, as well as when managing packaging waste, it is mandatory to take into account the targets relating to:
a) the amount of packaging waste that needs to be recovered,
b) the amount of raw materials in packaging waste that needs to be recycled, and within the amount of processed packaging waste,
c) the amount of individual materials in the total mass of recyclable materials in packaging waste that needs to be recycled.
(2) The materials and codes in packaging waste specified in the previous paragraph are:
a) paper 15 01 01
b) plastic 15 01 02
c) wood 15 01 03
d) metals 15 01 04
e) glass 15 01 07
f) packaging contaminated with hazardous substances 15 01 10*.
g) packaging separated from municipal waste under the code 20 01 01, 20 01 02, 20 01 38, 20 01 39, 20 01 40.
(3) Multi-layer packaging is reported in the category of the dominant packaging material from which it is made (if paper dominates – it is reported as paper, if metal dominates – it is reported as metal, if plastic dominates – it is reported as plastic, etc.).
Article 10.
(Content of heavy metals)
(1) The manufacturer or importer is prohibited from placing on the market packaging in which the total content of heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium) exceeds 100 ppm by weight of the packaging or packaging material, except in the case where the packaging is made entirely of lead crystal glass and a plastic crate.
(2) The manufacturer or importer is obliged to attach information on the fulfillment of the conditions specified in paragraph 1 of this Article to each delivery of a product packed in packaging, delivery of packaging or packaging material that he releases for sale, thereby guaranteeing that the packaging or packaging material complies with the requirements of this Regulation.
Article 11.
(Packaging Labeling)
(1) In order to facilitate the collection, reuse and recovery of packaging, packaging must be classified and labeled according to the material used in production.
(2) Procedures for the classification and labeling of packaging are carried out in accordance with the Regulation on the form, content and procedure for informing about important characteristics of products and packaging by manufacturers (“Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH”, No. 6/08).
Article 12.
(Returnable-reusable packaging)
(1) The manufacturer, importer, filler/packer and distributor who places returnable packaging on the market is obliged to ensure the return and reuse of all returnable packaging by means of a deposit system or in some other way.
