The products covered by this Notification are: packaging and packaging waste, specifically reusable packaging, packaging managed under the deposit system, and recyclable packaging.

The services covered by this Notification are: producers of the aforementioned products, fillers; importers of packaged products; service packaging suppliers; intermediary providers of network communication transmission services; and waste treatment operators from specific waste streams.

This draft Decree-Law is the fifth amendment to Decree-Law No 152-D/2017 of 11 December 2017, as amended by Law No 69/2018 of 26 December 2018 and Law No 41/2019 of 21 June 2019, by Decree-Law No 86/2020 of 14 October 2020, and amended and republished by Decree-Law No 102-D/2020 of 10 December 2020.

This draft legislation is the fifth update to Decree-Law No 152-D/2017 of 11 December 2017, introducing the requirement to mark reusable packaging and packaging managed under the deposit system, as well as the requirement to mark recyclable packaging with the indication of its appropriate destination. The draft Decree-Law also provides for the obligation for waste treatment operators to prove annually to the licensing entity that they have complied with the qualification requirements and applicable standards by means of a document issued by qualified verifiers.

It also introduces a new article with a view to regulating reporting obligations by intermediary providers of network communication transmission services, with a view to regularising the e-commerce of products covered by the principle of extended producer responsibility.
The update of Decree-Law No 152-D/2017 by means of the draft Decree-Law under this Notification introduces the following amendments that are considered technical regulations:
• Article 8 - Obligation of waste treatment operators to prove annually to the licensing entity that they have complied with the qualification requirements and applicable standards by means of a document issued by qualified verifiers.
• Article 23(17) - Reusable packaging must be marked, the symbol and rules for which are determined by ministerial implementing order by the members of government responsible for the areas of the economy and the environment, after consulting the representative associations of the sectors involved.
• Article 28 - Reusable and non-reusable packaging, packaging managed under the deposit system and recyclable packaging must be marked:
- Paragraph 2 - Without prejudice to paragraph 9, non-reusable primary packaging from other Member States of the European Union or from third countries that have been marked with a specific symbol at source, may be placed on the market with this symbol.
- Paragraph 3 - Packaging managed under the deposit system referred to in Article 23-C must be marked with the symbol that will be defined to this end.
- Paragraph 4 - Packaging must indicate the nature of the packaging material(s) used for the purposes of identification and classification by the respective industry in accordance with the identification system established in Commission Decision No 97/129/EC of 28 January 1997, whose framework is set out in Annex IX to this Decree-Law.
- Paragraphs 5, 6 and 7 - Primary packaging, secondary packaging intended for the consumer and recyclable packaging placed on the market must be marked with the indication of their appropriate destination, namely the colour of the ecopoint where they must be placed, in accordance with the terms to be determined. The indication must be printed in a visible, legible and indelible form and may be presented by pictograms, written text, or both.
- Paragraph 9 - From the date of entry into force of the obligation under paragraph 5, the placing on the market of recyclable and reusable packaging marked with the tidy-man symbol will be prohibited.
• Article 20-A - Reporting obligations of intermediary providers of network communication transmission services, with a view to regularising e-commerce of products covered by the principle of extended producer responsibility, by extending to these providers the same obligations already stipulated for the producers of products covered by the principle of extended producer responsibility.