. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/EEC/61 
21 April 2004 
 (04-1803) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English 
   
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6. 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
 
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):         
2. Agency responsible:   European Commission 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site 
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be  indicated if different from above:         
European Commission, 
EC-TBT Enquiry Point, 
Fax: 0032 2 299 80 43, E-mail: ec-tbt@cec.eu.int
 
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [ X], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [ X], 5.7.1 [   ], other:         
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in  addition, where applicable):   Passenger cars 
(M 1 vehicles) and light duty trucks (N 1 vehicles) as defined in Council Directive 
70/156/EEC as amended by Directive 2001/116/EC. 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   COM (2004) 162 
final, “Proposal for a Directive of the Europ ean Parliament and of the Council on the type-
approval of motor vehicles with regard to th eir re-usability, recyclability and recoverability 
and amending Council Directive 70/156/EEC ” – (44 pages, all EC languages). 
6. Description of content:   This proposal for a Directive lays down the necessary provisions 
to ensure that new passenger cars and light- duty trucks up to 3 500  kg are designed to 
comply with required minimum rates with resp ect to their ‘re-usability’, ‘recyclability’ and 
‘recoverability’. 
New vehicles put on the market three years af ter the adoption of this Directive shall be 
designed and constructed as to be: 
 
– re-usable and/or recyclable at a minimum of 85 %  and 
– re-usable and/or recoverable at a minimum of 95 %. 
The rates will be calculated according to the method described in the standard ISO 
22628 : 2002.  
The new provisions, which will be part of th e Community type-approval system, will apply 
both to new types of vehicles to be approved and to new vehicles already covered by an 
approval. G/TBT/N/EEC/61 
Page 2  
 
Moreover, the proposal includes a list of compone nt parts that shall not be re-used in the 
construction of vehicles, because they could gi ve rise to safety or environmental hazards. 
These provisions shall apply 12 months after the entry into force of the Directive. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:  
The aim of the proposed measure is to en sure the achievement by 2015 of targets 
concerning the recycling and recovery of vehicles components and materials set up in 
Article 7(4) of Directive 2000/53/EC on end-of-life vehicles. 
One of the main objectives of Directive 2000/53/EC  is to avoid the final disposal of waste 
by promoting the re-use, recycling and recovery of vehicle component parts.  Article 7(1) of 
that Directive requires, however, that the re-use process must not be prejudicial to requirements regarding the safety of vehicles and the protection of the environment. 
8. Relevant documents:   COM (2004)162 final. This proposal is available at the following 
address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/automotive .   
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
By the European Parliament 
and Council:    Scheduled for mid 2005 
Proposed date of entry into force:   20 days after publication in the OJ of the European 
     U n i o n  
10. Final date for comments:   60 days from the date of notification 
 
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [    ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:        
European Commission, 
EC-TBT Enquiry Point, 
Fax: 0032 2 299 80 43, 
E-mail: ec-tbt@cec.eu.int  
 