General Standards
The Northern Ireland Trading Standards Service organization is one, responsible for trade standards organization in the country. This organization deals with the following regulation areas:
- weights and measures- to ensure that all goods sold by weight, volume, length or area are accurately measured;
- misleading price indications- it is illegal for a trader to give consumers price indications which are misleading or to make price comparisons which are not genuine, fair and meaningful;
- false or misleading descriptions of goods and services- to ensure that goods and services are accurately described when they are offered for sale;
- price marking- in general, traders must display the price of all goods which they offer for sale. Also, large shops must show the unit price of goods which are prepacked in fixed quantities;
- hallmarking of precious metals- most gold, silver and platinum jewellery must be hallmarked by one of the Assay Offices;
- credit transactions- traders who offer credit to consumers must hold a valid consumer credit licence. Traders who advertise credit must comply with the appropriate regulations;
- estate agency and the misdescription of property- to ensure that estate agents act in the best interests of their clients, and that both buyers and sellers are treated honestly, fairly and promptly;
- video recordings- legislation regulating the video industry seeks to ensure that only classified films are offered for sale or rent, and that children are not able to rent or buy films which have an adult classification;
- counterfeit goods- the Northern Ireland Trading Standards Service is responsible for enforcing the Trade Marks Act 1994, which prohibits the unauthorised use of trademarks;
- timeshare transactions and package travel- legislation controls the sale of timeshare, while package travel regulations seek to protect consumers in the event of holiday companies ceasing to trade;
- businesses which persistently trade unfairly- the Northern Ireland Trading Standards Service investigates complaints about illegal trading practices and trading standard laws.
Many standards in the EU are adopted from international standards bodies such as the International Standards Organization (ISO). The drafting of specific EU standards is handled by three European standards organizations:
1. CENELEC, European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization
2. ETSI, European Telecommunications Standards Institute
3. CEN, European Committee for Standardization, handling all other standards
PRODUCT CERTIFICATION
In order to sell products in Ireland, the exporters are required to apply CE marking whenever their product is covered by specific product legislation. CE marking product legislation offers manufacturers a number of choices and requires decisions to determine which safety/health concerns need to be addressed, which conformity assessment module is best suited to the manufacturing process, and whether or not to use EU-wide harmonized standards.
All products manufactured to standards adopted by the European comission and published in the Official Journal as harmonized standards, are presumed to conform to the requirements of EU Directives. The manufacturer then applies the CE marking and issues a declaration of conformity. With these, the product will be allowed to circulate freely within the EU. A manufacturer can choose not to use the harmonized EU standards, but then must demonstrate that the product meets the essential safety and performance requirements.
The CE marking is not intended to include detailed technical information on the product, but there must be enough information to enable the inspector to trace the product back to the manufacturer or the local contact established in the EU. This detailed information should not appear next to the CE marking, but rather on the declaration of conformity or the documents accompanying the product.
LABELING REQUIREMENTS
The information particulars is required and must be shown legibly and obviously on one side of the packaging, indelibly printed directly onto the package or on a label which is an integral part of the package or affixed to it. For goods shipped in bulk and loaded directly onto a means of transport, the information must be given in a document accompanying the goods or shown on a notice placed in an obvious position inside the means of transport.
In the same time, the label must indicate the name and the country of origin of the products and, where appropriate, the class, the variety or commercial type if required in a specific marketing standard.
At retail stage, the information particulars required by the Ireland Trade Comission must be legible and conspicuous. Products may be presented for sale provided the retailer displays prominently, adjacent to and legibly the information particulars relating to country of origin and, where appropriate, class and variety or commercial type in such a way as not to mislead the consumer. Where fruit and vegetables are subject to a specific marketing standard they must indicate the information required for that particular product.
The marketing of packages of a net weight of 5 kg or less containing mixes of different types of fruit and vegetables shall be allowed, provided that:
- the products are of uniform quality and each product concerned complies with the relevant specific marketing standard or, where no specific marketing standard exists for a particular product, the general marketing standard;
- the package is appropriately labelled, in accordance with the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007;
- the mix is not such as to mislead the consumer.
If the fruit and vegetables in a mix originate in more than one Member State or third country, the full names of the countries of origin may be replaced with one of the following, as appropriate:
- ‘mix of EC fruit and vegetables’;
- ‘mix of non-EC fruit and vegetables’;
- ‘mix of EC and non-EC fruit and vegetables’.
PACKAGING REQUIREMENTS
The Irish packaging regulations are designed to promote the recovery of packaging waste by imposing recycling obligations on commercial suppliers who place packaging or packaged products onto the Irish market.
Packaging waste is comprised of the following waste types:
- aluminium;
- fibreboard;
- glass;
- paper;
- plastic sheeting;
- steel;
- wood.
The Regulations apply to all businesses that handle specified packaging in whatever form it arises in the course of their business.
Whether you manufacture, import, buy or sell packaged goods, whether you operate a factory or corner shop, pub or restaurant, these Regulations apply to you. Every entrepreneur is legally obliged to recycle the packaging waste.
More information can be found here: www.nwcpo.ie
CONTACTS
Limerick City and County Council
Dooradoyle Road, Dooradoyle, Limerick, V94 WV78
Phone: +353 61 496200
Fax: +353 61 496006
