News The Standing Committee on European Watchmaking (CPHE) held its first meeting of the year on 22 May in Geneva, in the airport buildings. Report.
Chaired by François Habersaat, President of the FH, the session, which brought together delegations from France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Switzerland (the German delegation sent its apologies), examined the following questions:
Electronic waste
The CPHE took note firstly of the position of the European Commission on the draft directive concerning electrical and electronic waste. While the latter has confirmed that the directive in question will indeed also apply to watchmaking products, it has indicated that it shared the point of view of the CPHE whereby the marking of an ecology label could be made on the documents accompanying the watch (warranty form, instruction leaflet) and not necessarily on the watch itself.
Spare parts
The delegations then began a wide-ranging discussion of the problem of spare parts. Several associations of European watchmakers have complained about the difficulty of obtaining supplies from certain brands. In this respect, it was emphasized that the European Commission, through Commissioner Patten, had indicated that the refusal to sell spare parts is not illegal if the following two conditions are met: the market share of the watch manufacturer concerned does not exceed 30 %; the said manufacturer produces the spare parts itself.
The delegations from Great Britain and France confirmed that their countries' associations would be raising this matter with the European Commission. It would therefore be opportune for the CPHE to anticipate events by contacting the said Commission.
Lonizing radiation
Last April the French authorities published a decree on ionizing radiation specifying that the use of tritium is henceforth prohibited, notably in watches. Moreover, it seems that the said decree allows no exceptions for watchmaking products, save perhaps for professional diver's watches. The French delegation confirmed this information and noted that the decree had already entered into force.
For its part, the British delegation informed the CPHE that its country had also promulgated legislation on this subject. Here, however, the use of tritium is permitted, provided that salting-out does not exceed a certain limit.
Nickel
As regards nickel, the application of standard 1811 - destructive and heavy - continues to generate discussion. One solution could be to establish certificates for the material used, as opposed to the finished products. The certificates would attest to compliance with standards for the salting-out of nickel and, where necessary, could be supplied to inspection authorities. The community delegations noted however that compliance with standard 1811 could be an obstacle to poor quality products.
Product guarantees
Turning again to the European directive on product guarantees, the French and British delegations confirmed that their respective countries, contrary to Germany and Italy, had not yet adopted national implementing legislation.
Product safety
Still with regard to the European directive, the delegations were informed of the existence of a new directive concerning the general safety of products. This directive, which was adopted at the end of 2001, should enter into force in member states at the beginning of 2004 at the latest. Its aim is to ensure the general safety of products. Only safe products may be distributed to consumers. Safe products are considered to be those that, during normal use, present only a minimal risk to personal health and safety. Consumers must be informed of any risks. However, the provisions of the directive do not apply where special provisions pertain, for example in relation to nickel or radioactivity. In the absence of legislation, it is possible to take into consideration European standards (CEN) or standards upheld in the industry, such as ISO standards. Indeed, a product that respects the above-mentioned standards is considered to be safe.
Protected transport
The delegations also returned to the French decree of 28 April 2000 concerning the transportation of funds in France, according to the terms of which the transportation of funds or jewellery exceeding 30,000 euros requires special security measures. It appears that the French Ministry of the Interior interpreted the notion of jewellery in a restrictive manner, in the sense that this notion does not cover watches. Consequently, the latter are unaffected by the planned measures. A similar interpretation does not bind the postal services, which have the authority to limit the value of shipments they may be required to transport.
Fight against counterfeiting
The topic of fraud prevention was also raised, insofar as the delegations welcomed the efforts of the European Commission to strengthen measures to curb counterfeiting in Europe: harmonisation of laws, training of authorities, exchanges of information. These are however only proposals and have yet to be accepted.
Rules of origin
The meeting in Geneva also gave the delegations an opportunity to return to the problem of the harmonisation of rules of origin, a matter that has already occupied the CPHE and in which there are two opposing positions: for the United States and Hong Kong, the origin of a watch for customs purposes is determined by assembly of the movement; for Switzerland, Japan and the European Union, it is the final assembly of the product that determines the origin of the watch. While reaffirming their support for the Swiss and European positions, the participants examined compromise proposals with a view to finding a way out of the impasse.
Chair
Lastly, the delegations confirmed the term of office of François Habersaat as chairman, due to expire on 31 December 2002, for an extra year.
On a final note, the next meeting of the CPHE will take place in Berlin in October.
June 07, 2002