Extension of environmental labelling deadlines
As a correction to the article, we would like to bring to the attention of our readers that Decree Law n.228, published on the Official Gazette, on December 30, 2021, postponed the prescribed deadline for the conformity of the environmental label, from December 31, 2021 to June 30, 2022.
The requirements will take effect the 1st of July 2022.
It should be noted that for products that do not comply with the packaging labelling requirements, already placed on the market before July 2022, it will be possible to market them until stocks last.
The new Decree also establishes that, within 30 days from the date of entry into force of this provision (July 1, 2022), the Ministry of the ecological transition will adopt technical guidelines for the correct labelling of packaging
According to Legislative Decree 116/2020, producers are obliged to apply Environmental Labeling to all the packagings. This decree amends the Legislative Decree 152/2006 and implements the European Waste Directive (EU 2018/851) and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (2018/852). The described fulfilments are required for all packagings, whether they are intended for the final consumer or industrial and professional use: indeed for packaging intended for industrial and professional use only the coding of the packaging material (PET 1, HDPE 2, …) must be reported, as per Decision 97/129/EC; on the other hand for consumer packagings it is mandatory to provide also the information on the correct collection and disposal of waste.
For further information, you can refer to the CONAI guidelines on the labelling of packaging, which provides a detailed description of the approach for environmental labelling and the necessary indications about how to comply with these obligations.
The deadline for complying with these regulatory requirements is January 1, 2022. As of that date, all packaging placed on the Italian market will have to be properly labeled.
Packaging produced before January 1, 2022 that are not complying with environmental labelling requirements, may be sold until there are goods in stock. However, no deadline has been set to get through all the stock, but it’s important providing evidence of their stock as of 31/12/2021.
