How will Regulation 648/2004 be implemented in the UK?
Unlike a Directive, a Regulation is “directly applicable” and applies throughout the European Union on its own, without the further need for domestic legislation. However, domestic legislation needs to be made to provide for machinery to deal with applications for derogations and to provide for enforcement measures (including criminal penalties for breach of Regulation 648/2004). This domestic legislation takes the form of regulations made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972. Regulations will be issued in two stages: The Detergents Regulations 2005 set out enforcement measures and came into force on 8 October 2005. This enabled us to consult more fully on the procedure for handling derogation applications before introducing new legislation in 2010.
