Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (GEMS)

Industry Update

August 2012

1

Agenda

• GEMS Update• Transitional arrangements & obligations for suppliers• Family of Models• Fee Bands and payment• Data Reporting• Enforcement and Penalties• Communication

2

GEMS Update

• On 30 May 2012 the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (GEMS) Bill 2012 was introduced into Parliament.

• The planned commencement for the GEMS legislation is 1 October 2012.

• Suppliers of regulated products should notice very little difference following commencement of the GEMS legislation.

3

GEMS will streamline existing procedural arrangements under a new national Regulator

• The GEMS legislation will create a national framework for the E3 Program by replacing seven state laws and improving monitoring, verification and enforcement.

• Changes that suppliers will see predominantly relate to: – transitioning arrangements– application processing and payment– registration application fees– requirement for the provision of sales data– fines and other enforcement measures for non-

compliance

4

All applications submitted on or after commencement this year will be processed inline with new GEMS requirements

• Businesses that directly import regulated products for commercial use will be required to ensure their products meet Minimum Efficiency Performance Standards (MEPS) and carry accurate Energy Rating Labels where applicable.

• Businesses will make online payments to the Australian Regulator through a secure payment gateway.

• There will be a requirement to provide a contact person located in Australia, who is involved in the supply chain, for each registration application.

• There will be a requirement for registrants to submit annual data on sales and import/export of each registered model (as currently required by the New Zealand Regulator) subject to MEPS.

What are these new GEMS Requirements?

5

On 1 October 2012 all existing state-based registrations will be transferred to a Commonwealth registration

• Suppliers who hold current state-approved registrations will be given one year to update their registrations to the national system.

• This will be done via an online upgrade facility on the Energy Rating Website, with no fee charged for transferring the remaining registration period for each model.

• Registrations that have not been upgraded within one year will lapse.

6

The GEMS legislation allows for a determination to specify the exact circumstances in which two or more models of a particular class of product falls within the same family

• Parameters for a family are not limited by the legislation but are models with identical performance that only have cosmetic differences.

• The concept is primarily intended to allow registrants the flexibility to differentiate product models with similar performance without incurring an obligation to register each model separately, but flexibility is available to group products according to other parameters.

7

Individual product determinations will set out any product specific clarifications but in general the following principles will apply• Under GEMS, multiple models should only be a family if:

– they are in the same product class;– they share the same brand name;– they have the same energy performance characteristics

(i.e. the same data or characteristics on which compliance with MEPS and/or labelling is assessed);

– they have identical relevant physical characteristics (e.g. overall size, and any other dimensions or component arrangement) which might affect performance; and

– they rely on the same test report (and reported test results).

• If one model in a family fails check-testing, all models in the family are deemed to have failed.

8

The basis of the approach taken for each of the product classes was to maintain the current treatment of products where possible

• Where there is currently a definition provided in the Australian or Australian/New Zealand Standard this has been maintained.

• Where there has been a past practice by regulators of providing a facility for a family registration that has not beennoted in the Standard, this practice has also been maintained.

• For some product classes a limit has been placed on the number of models able to be registered in a family.

• The approach also aims to provide guidance where families are not noted in the product standards.

• Definition of family of models will be reviewed on a product-by-product basis when more data becomes available.

9

All regulated products have been allocated to a registration fees band

• Under Commonwealth cost recovery guidelines, fee bands are to reflect the cost of processing registrations and the costs of monitoring compliance.

• In this case given the gulf between true cost recovery and fees paid under the state schemes a compromise is proposed.

10

Fee  No. of Products

440 11

540 1

670 4

780 4

Registration fees

11

Product FeeLighting Products (5) 440Clothes Dryers 440Clothes Washers 440Dishwashers 440External Power Supplies 440Set Top Box 440Televisions 440Electric Water Heaters 540Air Conditioners 670Electric Motors 670Gas Water Heaters 670Refrigerators 670Chiller Towers 780Close Control Air Conditioners 780Commercial Refrigerators / Display Cabinets 780Distribution Transformers 780

Processing of applications will commence once payment has been received

• Businesses will make online payments to the Australian Regulator through a secure payment gateway.

• The payment gateway will allow for multiple applications to be submitted and paid for in the one transaction.

• Like many of the state systems it is credit card only payment.

12

The GEMS legislation mandates Data Reporting

• This data will facilitate the establishment of MEPS levels and will improve evaluation of the E3 Program.

• We will align with the New Zealand data reporting requirements.

• At this stage:– The first time data would need to provided is in April 2014

for data reporting between 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014.– The reporting period would occur between 1 April and 1

August 2014.

13

Under the GEMS Act there are a range of penalties and enforcement measures

• These penalties and enforcement measures include: – Suspension and cancellation of registrations – Infringement notices – Civil and criminal penalties (fines)– Injunctions to put a stop to non-compliant activity– Enforceable undertakings – agreements to rectify an

alleged wrong and compensate consumers and the environment

14

Penalties are per offence but the Regulator may develop rules where multiple offences apply

• Category A Products:– Infringement notice for an individual: $660– Infringement notice for a corporation: $3,300– Civil/criminal penalty for an individual: $6,600– Civil/criminal penalty for a corporation: $33,000

• Category B Products:– Infringement notice for an individual: $1,320– Infringement notice for a corporation: $6,600– Civil/criminal penalty for an individual: $13,200– Civil/criminal penalty for a corporation: $66,000

Penalty Levels One penalty unit currently equals $110.00

15

The Regulator can publicise contraventions

• The Regulator can report enforcement action including the name of any ‘person’ who has been issued with or paid an infringement notice.

• This ensures transparency and ensures that purchasers can monitor the history of non-compliance. This may be relevant to future purchasing decisions.

16

Details of E3 Program requirements under GEMS legislation will be available on the Energy Rating Website

17

• Notice of new information will be provided to suppliers through industry associations and directly using contact details supplied with registrations– Important that contact

details are current.• Refer to Energy Rating

Website for current information.

Communication

• The Energy Rating Website is where all information about the registration system can be found.

• Registrants will be contacted directly with information about the transition and we will work with associations to ensure all parties are informed.

18