Selling Electrical Goods into Germany

Is the EU not a free market afterall?

[jgar]

Hi all, haven't posted for a while ...

We are a UK mailorder company and we have had to remove some electrical items from sale to German consumers owing to threats made by a competitor regarding European WEEE regulations

The WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive) is implemented in each country. In the UK we are registered with the DTS scheme - simple payment each year, takes a couple on minutes etc

It appears, in order to sell ANY electrical goods in Europe, you need to be registered with EACH of the 24 member countries in order to ship mailorder electrical goods to them ... including anything with a circuit board on it

If registering in 24 countries wasn't enough, in Germany registering is tough (2 months), and then you need to produce monthly reports apparently, oh and you need a German bank account, which is only possible to companies with a registered company there.

Have I got this all wrong, or is UK compliance sufficient for selling to members of the public anywhere in the EU? I have contacted the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), but no-one I've talked to seems to be able to advise.

I bet there are many online shops out there selling electrical goods to EU customers who are unaware of the problem here.

Can anyone shed light some light on this?
Anyone managed to successfully sell electrical goods in the EU?

I'd welcome your views on this ...

[PCInk]

I have contacted the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), but no-one I've talked to seems to be able to advise.

The WEEE regulations in the UK is run by the VCA.gov.uk - You might find contacting them would be helpful.

[Jack_Hughes]

You need to create monthly reports in the UK! Sounds like they are pulling your chain. We sell electrical items into Germany with no problems though ours is B2B rather than B2C. Maybe that makes a difference? A lawyer would be the quickest / most expensive route. If it is the case that you need to register WEEE in every country it would make the whole EU single market a bit of a nonsense.

[jgar]

Thanks for the responses.

Yes, I have contacted VCA too, but they have only been able so far to advise on UK implementation, not export

Monthly reports need to be submitted to Germany, not UK

Ours (and probably many others out there) are B2C.

This appears to be a big issue ...

Does anyone else out there accept B2C orders from German customers for electrical goods (includes even children's toys)?