Compliance requirements in Latvia

WEEE Regulations

Batteries Regulations

Packaging Regulations

WEEE requirements

Registration timescale

6 April 2006

Registration agency

The State Environmental, Geological and Meteorological Agency

Main Regulation Text in English
Regulation 624 in Latvian Regulation 723 in Latvian

Batteries requirements

Registration timescale

31 July 2009

Registration Agency

Latvian Electrical Engineering and Electronics Industry Association (LETERA)

Registration, collection and recycling obligations for batteries producers

Producers of portable and industrial batteries

3 options for compliance permitted:

1. Producers can join a collective scheme and transfer legal responsibility to the scheme
2. Individual compliance (approved waste plan required)
3. Payment of Natural Resources Tax (NRT)*

*A Natural Resources Tax on batteries has been in force since 1 July 1996. A company placing 1 tonne on the market without any collective or individual compliance has to pay EUR 1,000-7,000 tax per tonne. Producers are exempted from the NRT if he is a member of a collective scheme or establishes an individual scheme and meets the conditions for exemption established by regulation.

Packaging requirements

Obligated parties must register and submit data based on the amount of packaging handled to the Ministry of Environment and Regional Protection.

The deadline for meeting recycling targets in Latvia is delayed until 31 December 2015 in accordance with the amendment to the revised Directive, 2005/20/EC

The Natural Resources Tax Law came into force in January 1996. Any activity which uses natural resources or is in any way harmful to the environment must be licensed. The tax is calculated according to the weight of packaging material.

The weight of imported packaging must be verified by a cargo certificate or by a certificate from the supplier. If goods imported into Latvia are not accompanied by a certificate stating the weight of the packaging, the packaging tax is now charged at 25% of the total weight of the packaged product.

Thresholds

The Packaging Regulations in Latvia applies to all producers. There are no thresholds for companies who only handle small quantities of packaging.

For further information, please contact Aidan Turnbull
Head of WEEE, RoHS & EcoDesign on +44 (0)1225 748420