S.L. 549.176 Art. 8Authorisation to operate a producer responsibility organisation. S.L.549.63.

(1) Without prejudice to the Waste Regulations, any person who intends to operate a producer responsibility organisation specifically for fulfilling the obligations imposed by these regulations, on behalf of producers of fishing gear containing plastic, shall require and obtain a valid authorisation from the competent authority. (FISHING GEAR CONTAINING PLASTIC)

(2) An application for an authorisation under sub-regulation

(1) shall:

(a) be made in writing;

(b) contain the information listed in Part A of Schedule 2;

(c) be signed by any of the authorised signatories referred to in Schedule 3;

(d) be accompanied by a non-refundable fee of five hundred euro (€500); and

(e) be accompanied by a work plan providing the information referred to in Part B of Schedule 2 which has to be to the satisfaction of the competent authority.

(3) The competent authority may specify the format in which the work plan referred to in sub-regulation (2) is to be made available.

(4) An authorisation granted by the competent authority shall be subject to conditions included in the authorisation, inter alia, the requirement that the services offered by an authorised producer responsibility organisation shall be:

(a) open to the participation of all producers under non-discriminatory conditions and such participation shall not be refused or revoked without reasonable justification; and

(b) designed so as to avoid any barriers to trade or distortions of competition in conformity with the relevant regulations.

(5) An authorisation granted by the competent authority under these regulations shall be valid for a period of time as determined in the authorisation itself:

Provided that where an authorisation granted by the competent authority is valid for a period exceeding two (2) years, the Authority may require the producer responsibility organisation to submit an updated work-plan.

(6) Where an authorisation granted under sub-regulation (4) is due to expire, an authorised producer responsibility organisation that wants to continue to operate as an authorised producer responsibility organisation shall, not later than six (6) months before the expiry of the authorisation:

(a) submit an application to the competent authority to renew the authorisation granted under these regulations;

(b) provide to the competent authority a revised version of the work plan for the operation of the producer responsibility organisation that complies with Part B of Schedule 2, signed by any of the authorised signatories referred to in Schedule 3.

(7) The renewal of the authorisation to operate a producer responsibility organisation shall be approved where the competent authority is satisfied as to the contents of the revised version of the work plan provided as required by sub-regulation (6)(b).

(8) An authorised producer responsibility organisation acting on behalf of producers placing on the market fishing gear containing plastic shall, within four (4) months of the issuance of the authorisation, be required to submit an adequate financial guarantee in accordance with the criteria established by the Authority, covering the costs established in sub-regulations (6) and (7) of regulation 4 with respect to the fishing gear containing plastic placed on the market by its producers in any given year, in case of failure of the producer responsibility organisation to fulfil such obligations:

Provided that any money drawn by the Authority from the guarantee shall be used to contribute towards financing the activities established in sub-regulations (6), (7) and (8) of regulation 4 with respect to the fishing-gear containing plastic placed on the market by the producers participating in such producer responsibility organisation.