Production of hydrofluorocarbons
1. For the purposes of this Article, Article 15 and Annex V, the production of hydrofluorocarbons is the amount of hydrofluorocarbons produced minus the amount destroyed by technology approved by the Parties to the Protocol, and minus the amount entirely used as feedstock in the manufacture of other chemicals, but including hydrofluorocarbons generated as a by-product, unless not captured or unless that by-product is destroyed as part of or after the production process by the producer or handed over to another undertaking for destruction. No amount of reclaimed hydrofluorocarbons shall be considered in the calculation of the production of hydrofluorocarbons.
2. The production of hydrofluorocarbons shall be allowed to the extent that producers have been allocated production rights by the Commission in accordance with this Article.
3. Before 1 January 2025, the Commission shall, by means of implementing acts, allocate production rights on the basis of Annex V for producers that produced hydrofluorocarbons in 2022, based on data reported under Article 19 of Regulation (EU) No 517/2014. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 34(2).
4. The Commission may, by means of implementing acts, at the request of the competent authority of a Member State, amend the implementing acts referred to in paragraph 3 in order to allocate additional production rights to the producers referred to in paragraph 3 or any other undertakings established in the Union, unless the production limits of the Member State under the Protocol are exceeded. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 34(2).
5. In the absence of an implementing act being effective before 1 January 2025, producers may continue to produce hydrofluorocarbons without production rights being allocated. The hydrofluorocarbons produced during such period shall count towards the allocation of production rights once issued in accordance with the implementing act referred to in paragraph 3.
6. Three years following the adoption of the implementing acts referred to in paragraph 3, and every 3 years thereafter, the Commission shall review and, if needed, amend those implementing acts, taking into account the changes to the production rights pursuant to Article 15 during the preceding 3 years. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 34(2).
Transfer and authorisation of production rights for industrial rationalisation
1. For the purpose of industrial rationalisation within a Member State, producers may transfer totally or partially their production rights to any other undertaking in that Member State, provided that the calculated levels of production of Parties to the Protocol are respected. Transfers shall be approved by the Commission and the relevant competent authorities and carried out via the F-gas Portal.
2. For the purpose of industrial rationalisation between Member States, the Commission may, in agreement with both the competent authority of the Member State in which a producer’s relevant production is situated, and the competent authority of the Member State in which excess calculated levels of production under the Protocol are available, authorise via the F-gas Portal that producer to exceed its production rights referred to in Article 14(3) by a specified amount, considering the conditions set out in the Protocol.
3. The Commission may, in agreement with both the competent authority of the Member State in which a producer’s relevant production is situated and the competent authority of the third country Party concerned, authorise a producer to combine the production rights referred to in Article 14 with the calculated levels of production allowed to a producer in a third country Party under the Protocol and that producer’s national law for the purpose of industrial rationalisation with a third country Party, provided that the combined production by the two producers do not lead to an exceedance of calculated levels of production of the two Parties to the Protocol and any relevant national law is respected.
Reduction of the quantity of hydrofluorocarbons placed on the market
1. The placing on the market of hydrofluorocarbons shall be allowed only to the extent that producers and importers have been allocated quota by the Commission as set out in Article 17.
Producers and importers placing hydrofluorocarbons on the market shall not exceed the quota available to them at the moment of placing on the market.
2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to hydrofluorocarbons that are:
(a)
imported into the Union for destruction;
(b)
used by a producer as feedstock or supplied directly by a producer or an importer to undertakings for use as feedstock;
(c)
supplied directly by a producer or an importer to undertakings for export out of the Union, not contained in products or equipment, where those hydrofluorocarbons are not subsequently made available to any other person within the Union, prior to export;
(d)
supplied directly by a producer or an importer for use in military equipment;
(e)
supplied directly by a producer or an importer to an undertaking using it for the etching of semiconductor material or the cleaning of chemicals vapour deposition chambers within the semiconductor manufacturing sector.
3. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 32 to amend paragraph 2 and exclude from the quota requirement laid down in paragraph 1 hydrofluorocarbons in accordance with decisions of the Parties to the Protocol.
4. Following a substantiated request by a competent authority of a Member State and taking into account the objectives of this Regulation, and in light of any data provided by the European Medicines Agency, the Commission may, exceptionally, by means of implementing acts, authorise an exemption for up to 4 years to exclude from the quota requirement laid down in paragraph 1 hydrofluorocarbons for use in specific applications, or specific categories of products or equipment, where it is demonstrated in the request that:
(a)
for those particular applications, products or equipment, alternatives are not available, or cannot be used for technical or safety reasons or risks to public health; and
(b)
a sufficient supply of hydrofluorocarbons cannot be ensured without entailing disproportionate costs.
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 34(2).
5. The emission of hydrofluorocarbons during production shall be considered as being placed on the market the year in which they occur.
6. This Article and Articles 17, 20 to 29 and 31 shall also apply to hydrofluorocarbons contained in pre-blended polyols.
Determination of reference values and quota allocations for the placing on the market of hydrofluorocarbons
1. By 31 October 2024 and at least every 3 years thereafter, the Commission shall determine reference values for producers and importers in accordance with Annex VII for the placing on the market of hydrofluorocarbons.
The Commission shall determine those reference values for all producers and importers that placed on the market hydrofluorocarbons during the previous 3 years, by means of an implementing act that determines references values for all producers and importers. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 34(2).
2. An producer or importer may notify the Commission of a permanent succession or acquisition of the part of its business relevant to this Article that results in a change of the attribution of its reference values and those of its legal successor.
The Commission may request relevant documentation to that effect. The adjusted reference values shall be made accessible in the F-gas Portal.
3. By 1 June 2024 and by 1 April 2027 and at least every 3 years thereafter, producers and importers may make a declaration for receiving quota from the reserve referred in Annex VIII via the F-gas Portal.
4. By 31 December 2024 and every year thereafter, the Commission shall allocate quota for each producer and importer for placing on the market of hydrofluorocarbons, pursuant to Annex VIII. Quota shall be notified via the F-gas Portal to producers and importers.
5. The quota allocations shall be subject to the payment of the amount due which equals EUR 3 for each tonne of CO 2 equivalent of quota to be allocated. Producers and importers shall be notified via the F-gas Portal of the total amount due for their calculated maximum quota allocation for the following calendar year and of the deadline for completing the payment. The Commission may, by means of implementing acts, determine the detailed arrangements for the payment of the amount due. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 34(2).
Producers and importers may pay only for a part of the calculated maximum quota allocation offered to them. In such a case, those producers and importers shall be allocated the quota corresponding to the payment made by the deadline referred to in the first subparagraph.
Until 31 December 2027, the Commission shall redistribute the quota for which a payment has not been made by the set deadline, free of charge, to only those producers and importers that have paid the total amount due for their calculated maximum quota allocation referred to in the first subparagraph and that have made a declaration as referred to in paragraph 3. That redistribution shall be made on the basis of each producer’s or importer's share of the sum of all the maximum calculated quota offered to and paid for in full by those producers and importers. From 1 January 2028, the quota for which a payment has not been made by the set deadline shall be cancelled.
The Commission shall be authorised not to fully allocate the maximum quantity referred to in Annex VII or allocate additional quota, as contingency for implementation issues during the allocation period.
6. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 32 to amend paragraph 5 of this Article as regards the amounts due for the quota allocation and the mechanism to allocate remaining quota, in order to compensate for inflation.
7. Every year, or more often following a substantiated request by a competent authority of a Member State, the Commission shall, after consultation of relevant stakeholders, assess the impact of the quota phase-down system laid down in Annex VII on the Union’s heat pump market considering relevant factors in particular, the development of prices of fluorinated greenhouse gases listed in Section 1 of Annex I the growth rate of heat pumps still requiring such gases, the market uptake of alternative technology and the state of the heat pump deployment rate target provided under the REPowerEU Plan. The Commission shall include the conclusions from those assessments in the relevant Annual Activity Report on Climate Action.
Where the assessment demonstrates a severe shortage of fluorinated greenhouse gases listed in Section 1 of Annex I for the deployment of heat pumps which could endanger the attainment of the REPowerEU heat pump deployment targets, the Commission shall adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 32 to amend Annex VII in order to allow the placing on the market of a quantity of fluorinated greenhouse gases listed in Annex I, in addition to the quota under Annex VII, respectively up to 4 410 247 tonnes of CO 2 equivalent, per year, for the period 2025-2026 and up to 1 425 536 tonnes of CO 2 equivalent, per year, for the period 2027-2029.
Where the Commission adopts a delegated act as referred to in the second subparagraph of this Article, the additional quota shall be distributed to producers and importers that have reported under Article 26, in the previous year, on heat pump use as one of the main categories of application in which the substance is used, following their request submitted via the F-gas Portal.
8. The revenue generated from the quota allocation amount shall constitute external assigned revenue in accordance with Article 21(5) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 26 ) . That revenue shall be assigned to the LIFE programme and to Heading 7 of the multiannual financial framework (European Public Administration), to cover the costs of external staff working on the management of the quota allocation, IT services, and licensing systems for the purpose of implementation of this Regulation and for ensuring compliance with the Protocol. The revenue used to cover those costs shall not exceed the maximum annual amount of EUR 3 million. Any revenue remaining after covering these costs shall be entered into the general budget of the Union.
Conditions for registration and receiving quota allocations
1. Quota shall be allocated only to producers or importers that have an establishment within the Union, or which have appointed an only representative with an establishment within the Union that assumes the full responsibility for compliance with this Regulation and with the requirements of Title II of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006. The only representative may be the same as the one appointed pursuant to Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006.
2. Only producers and importers that have experience in trading activities of chemicals or in servicing refrigeration, air-conditioning or fire protection equipment or heat pumps for 3 consecutive years prior to the quota allocation period, may submit a declaration referred to in Article 17(3) or receive a quota allocation on that basis, pursuant to Article 17(4). The producers and importers shall submit evidence to that effect to the Commission, upon request.
3. For the purpose of registration in the F-gas Portal, producers and importers shall provide a physical address where the undertaking is located and from where it conducts its business. Only one undertaking shall be registered under the same physical address.
For the purpose of submitting a quota declaration pursuant to Article 17(3) and receiving a quota allocation pursuant to Article 17(4), as well as for the purpose of determining reference values pursuant to Article 17(1), all undertakings that share the same beneficial owner shall be considered as a single undertaking. Only that single undertaking, which is the one registered first in the F-gas Portal unless indicated otherwise by the beneficial owner, shall be entitled to a reference value pursuant to Article 17(1) and to a quota allocation pursuant to Article 17(4).
Products or equipment pre-charged with hydrofluorocarbons
1. Refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, heat pumps and metered dose inhalers pre-charged with substances listed in Section 1 of Annex I shall not be placed on the market unless those substances with which the products or equipment have been pre-charged are accounted for within the quota system referred to in this Chapter.
The prohibition set out in the first subparagraph shall apply to such metered dose inhalers from 1 January 2025.
2. When placing on the market pre-charged products or equipment as referred to in paragraph 1, manufacturers and importers of products or equipment shall ensure that compliance with paragraph 1 is fully documented and shall draw up a declaration of conformity in this respect.
By drawing up the declaration of conformity, manufacturers and importers of products or equipment shall assume responsibility for compliance with this paragraph and paragraph 1.
Manufacturers and importers of products or equipment shall keep the documentation and the declaration of conformity for a period of at least 5 years from the placing on the market of those products or equipment and shall make them available, upon request, to the competent authority of the Member State concerned or to the Commission.
3. Where hydrofluorocarbons contained in the products or equipment referred to in paragraph 1 have not been placed on the market prior to the charging of the products or equipment, importers of those products or equipment shall ensure that, by 30 April 2025 and every year thereafter, the accuracy of the documentation, the declaration of conformity and the veracity of their report pursuant to Article 26(7) is confirmed, for the preceding calendar year, at a reasonable level of assurance by an independent auditor registered in the F-gas Portal.
The independent auditor shall be either:
(a)
accredited pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 27 ) ; or
(b)
accredited to verify financial statements in accordance with the legislation of the Member State concerned.
4. The Commission shall, by means of implementing acts, determine the detailed arrangements relating to the declaration of conformity referred to in paragraph 2, the verification by the independent auditor and the accreditation of auditors. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 34(2).
5. An importer of products or equipment referred to in paragraph 1, which has no establishment in the Union, shall appoint an only representative with an establishment within the Union that assumes the full responsibility of complying with this Regulation. The only representative may be the same as the one appointed pursuant to Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006.
6. This Article shall not apply to undertakings that placed on the market less than 10 tonnes of CO 2 equivalent of hydrofluorocarbons, per year, contained in the products or equipment referred to in paragraph 1.
F-gas Portal
1. The Commission shall set up and ensure the operation of an electronic system for the management of the quota system, licensing requirements of imports and exports, and reporting obligations on fluorinated greenhouse gases (the ‘F-gas Portal’).
2. The Commission shall ensure the interconnection of the F-gas Portal with the EU Single Window Environment for Customs through the European Union Customs Single Window – Certificates Exchange System (EU CSW-CERTEX) established by Regulation (EU) 2022/2399.
3. Member States shall ensure the interconnection of their national single window environments for customs with the EU CSW-CERTEX for the purpose of exchanging information with the F-gas Portal.
4. Undertakings shall have a valid registration in the F-gas Portal prior to carrying out any of the following activities:
(a)
the import or export of fluorinated greenhouse gases, and products and equipment containing fluorinated greenhouse gases, except in the case of temporary storage as defined in Article 5, point (17), of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013;
(b)
submitting a declaration pursuant to Article 17(3);
(c)
receiving a quota allocation for the placing on the market of hydrofluorocarbons in accordance with Article 17(4), or making or receiving a quota transfer in accordance with Article 21(1), or making or receiving an authorisation to use quota in accordance with Article 21(2), or delegating that authorisation to use quota in accordance with Article 21(3);
(d)
supplying or receiving hydrofluorocarbons for the purposes listed in Article 16(2), points (a) to (e);
(e)
carrying out all other activities that require reporting under Article 26;
(f)
receiving production rights pursuant to Article 14 and for making or receiving a transfer and an authorisation of production rights referred to in Article 15;
(g)
verifying reports referred to in Article 19(3) and Article 26(8).
Registration in the F-gas Portal shall be valid only once the Commission validates it and for as long as it is not suspended or revoked by the Commission or withdrawn by the undertaking.
5. A valid registration in the F-Gas Portal at the moment of import or export constitutes a licence required under Article 22.
6. The Commission shall, to the extent necessary, by means of implementing acts, clarify the rules of registration in the F-gas Portal to ensure the smooth functioning of the F-gas Portal and compatibility with the EU Single Window Environment for Customs. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 34(2).
7. The competent authorities, including customs authorities, of the Member States shall have access to the F-gas Portal to enable the implementation of the relevant requirements and controls. Access to the F-gas Portal by customs authorities shall be ensured via the EU Single Window Environment for Customs.
The competent authorities of Member States and the Commission shall ensure the confidentiality of the data included in the F-gas Portal.
The Commission shall make publicly available, no later than 3 months after the allocation is completed for a given year, the following:
(a)
a list of quota holders;
(b)
a list of the undertakings that are subject to the reporting requirements set out in Article 26.
8. Any requests by producers and importers to correct the information they recorded in the F-gas Portal concerning transfers of quota referred to in Article 21(1), authorisations to use quota referred to in Article 21(2) or delegations of authorisations referred to in Article 21(3), shall be communicated, with the consent of all undertakings involved in the transaction, to the Commission without undue delay and at the latest by 31 March of the year following that of the recording of the transfer of quota or the authorisation to use quota, or the delegation of the authorisation, as appropriate. The request shall be substantiated with evidence establishing that it concerns a clerical error.
Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, requests to correct data that negatively affect the entitlements of other producers and importers not involved in the underlying transaction shall be refused.
Transfer of quota and authorisation to use quota for the placing on the market of hydrofluorocarbons in imported equipment
1. Any producer or importer for whom a reference value has been determined pursuant to Article 17(1) may transfer in the F-gas Portal its quota allocation on the basis of Article 17(4), for all or any quantities, to another producer or importer in the Union or to another producer or importer which is represented in the Union by an only representative referred to in Article 18(1).
Quota that is transferred under the first subparagraph shall not be transferred a second time.
2. Any producer or importer for whom a reference value has been determined pursuant to Article 17(1), may authorise in the F-gas Portal an undertaking in the Union or represented in the Union by an only representative referred to in Article 19(5), to use all or part of its quota for the purpose of importing pre-charged equipment referred to in Article 19.
The respective quantities of hydrofluorocarbons shall be deemed to be placed on the market by the authorising producer or importer at the moment of the authorisation.
3. Any undertaking receiving authorisations may delegate that authorisation to use quota received in accordance with paragraph 2 in the F-gas Portal to an undertaking for the purpose of importing pre-charged equipment referred to in Article 19. A delegated authorisation shall not be delegated a second time.
4. Transfers of quota, authorisations to use quota and delegations of authorisations carried out via the F-gas Portal shall only be valid if the receiving undertaking accepts it via the F-gas Portal.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
