1. What is the legal definition of an authorised representative?

Section 27 (18): The manufacturer of a restricted product without registered office or place of business in the Slovak Republic shall provide written authorisation as defined in (19) to an authorised representative, specifically a legal entity or sole proprietor with registered office or place of business in the Slovak Republic, to perform the obligations laid down in this Act.

Section 27 (19):Authorisation must be provided in writing and in such scope that ensures the authorised representative assumes all rights and obligations of the manufacturer of the restricted product as derived on the basis of this Act.
Such authorisation is awarded for a minimum of one year.

Section 27 (20):The authorised representative is fully liable for the performance of all of the obligations of the manufacturer of the restricted product on the basis of the authorisation provided under (19) above and acts in its own name in performing such obligations.

2. What is a restricted product and who is the manufacturer of a restricted product?

(1) A restricted product is any product included in the group of restricted products defined in the second and third sections of this part of the Act to which expanded manufacturer responsibility is attached.

(2) The manufacturer of a restricted product is defined as a manufacturer of electrical devices (Section 32), batteries (Section 42), packaging (Section 52), vehicles (Section 60), tires (Section 69) and non-packaging products (Section 73).

3. What is expanded manufacturer responsibility?

(3) Expanded manufacturer responsibility is a set of obligations assigned to manufacturers of restricted products defined herein or in a specific regulation applicable to products during all phases of the product’s life cycle with the goal of preventing the generation of waste from such restricted product (restricted waste stream) and reinforcing the reuse, recycling or other forms of recovery of this waste stream.
Expanded manufacturer responsibility comprises the definition of requirements on the material composition or construction of a restricted product, reporting on the composition and disposal of the restricted waste stream, assuring disposal of the restricted waste stream and providing financing to cover these activities.

4. What obligations are the manufacturers of restricted products subject to?

(4) The manufacturer of a restricted product is obliged to:

a) register in the Register of Manufacturers of Restricted Products and to announce changes in registration details,

b) define an authorised representative in accordance with Section 28 (18) to (20) if considered a manufacturer of a restricted product under Paragraph (18) above,

c) ensure the material composition of the restricted product, its construction and its labelling comply with the specific section in this Act if this obligation is applicable,

d) fulfil informational obligations with respect to the public and the processor of the restricted waste stream in compliance with the specific section of this Act,

e) ensure the fulfilment of the objectives defined in Appendix 3,

f) ensure disposal of the restricted waste stream in the scope and method defined in the specific section of this Act,

g) ensure the recovery and recycling of the restricted waste stream at the level of the defined binding restricted waste stream recovery and recycling objectives and limits defined in Appendix 3 at a minimum,

h) maintain and store records and report data to the ministry in the defined scope and store all reported data,

i) fulfil the informational obligation with respect to the end user of the restricted product in compliance with the specific section of this Act and in the prescribed manner [Section 105 (3) (i)],

j) calculate its recovered share and market share in compliance with the specific section of this Act on the basis of data
published by the ministry on its website by April 30th,

k) ensure the collection of the entire quantity of separated municipal waste components belonging to the restricted waste stream from communities in which it is responsible for the restricted waste stream; the provisions of letters (e) and (g) are not affected.

(5) The manufacturer of the restricted product bears all financial costs associated with the collection, transport, preparation for reuse, recovery, recycling, processing and disposal of the collected separated waste belonging to the restricted waste stream with the exception of if such obligations are performed by a party defined under Section 37 (3), Section 48 (3), Section 56 (8), Section 71 (2) and Section 73 (10).
If this obligation is performed by making payments for waste collection or recovery costs to an authorised party, then the scope of such payments are decreased by the revenues these parties obtain from the paid disposal of the restricted waste stream.
Financial costs borne by the manufacturer of a restricted product pursuant to the first sentence do not include costs associated with building or constructing waste collection facilities, waste recovery facilities, waste disposal facilities, including mobile installations, or costs to procure equipment and technology to conduct these activities; the provisions of Section 81 (4) are not affected hereby.

5. What is a manufacturer responsibility organisation?

(1) A manufacturer responsibility organisation is a legal entity with registered office in the Slovak Republic established, owned and operated exclusively by the manufacturers of restricted products with registered office in any Member State.
A manufacturer responsibility organisation fulfils the obligations defined for the represented manufacturers of restricted products in compliance with the provided authorisation and on the basis of a contract to perform these restricted obligations.
A manufacturer responsibility organisation is not established to generate profit.