§ Section 6 (2) sentence 2 ElektroG extends the previous prohibition of offering for distributors, if the manufacturer or the authorized representative is not or not properly registered, to operators of electronic marketplaces and fulfillment service providers.
Accordingly, operators of electronic marketplaces may not enable the offering or provision of electrical or electronic equipment, and fulfillment service providers may not undertake warehousing, packaging, addressing or shipping in relation to electrical or electronic equipment of that manufacturer, if a manufacturer or its authorized representative is not properly registered with Stiftung ear pursuant to Section 8 ElektroG.
This is to take account of the fact that there have been an increasing number of cases in which manufacturers based abroad and selling electrical and electronic equipment to Germany via electronic marketplaces have failed to comply with the requirements of the ElektroG with regard to the registration and take-back of old electrical equipment. In this way, properly operating manufacturers bore additional (financial) burdens with regard to the disposal of WEEE from corresponding free-riders. In addition, enforcement did not apply to producers located outside the EU. At the turn of the year 2022/2023, the joint body responsible for registration, the EAR Foundation, feared an overload due to the sharp increase in the number of appointments of authorized representatives.
As a result, the due diligence obligation including pass-through liability for platforms such as electronic marketplaces and fulfillment service providers is to be postponed from January 1, 2023 by six months to July 1, 2023.
