Summary of changes to environmental product law in Hungary
by Emma Mundy at 11:25 in Battery, Environmental, Packaging

​​A standalone Amendment to the environmental protection product fee has been brought in effective from 1 January 2017. There are no major changes to the legislation, however it brings about clarification on a number of issues.

Chain transactions

The rules on chain transactions have been clarified. A change to the legislation last year meant that foreign companies could become obligated under the Environmental product law, however only foreign companies that sell their products with Hungarian VAT are liable to register. The legislation now allows for the first domestic buyer to take over the obligation of the payment of the product fee by signing a special contract which will need to be approved by the Tax Authority NAV.

According to the Amendment the first domestic buyer can also take over the product fee obligation from the party liable to pay the product fee if at least 60% of the products purchased are exported.

Product charges on commercial printing paper/advertising material

With regards to product charges on commercial printing paper/advertising material, the customer must state in writing at the time when placing the order, or at the time of contracting the printing service provider, as to whether the product ordered is in conformity with the definition of commercial printing paper. The legislation now makes clear that in case of a lack of statement the product should be considered a product subject to commercial printing paper product charges.

Waste Management

It is no longer a requirement of the law to collect waste from end consumers. You can still collect waste, but it is not obligatory.

Plastic bags

Plastic bags used for selective waste collection, biodegradable plastic products manufactured using exclusively renewable sources, and products created during preparation for recycling are now exempt from a product fee, however they are not exempt from reporting.

Flexible cooler bags have been removed from the plastic shopping bags category. They will now be scoped under the plastic packaging materials category which means their environmental contribution will be significantly decreased.

Category codes

Some new KT codes used to classify products such as WEEE and batteries have been added. The previous CSK codes used to classify packaging haven't changed, but new CSK codes have been added along with changes to the environmental protection product fee.

Owing to the nature of the Act it is now no longer necessary to pay an environmental product fee on items that are recycled from obligated products that have become waste.

If you have any questions about the changes or reporting in general in Hungary please contact us here.

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