BelgiumRoyal Decree of 1 October 2023 on the accessibility requirements for products
Koninklijk besluit van 1 oktober 2023 betreffende de toegankelijkheidsvoorschriften voor producten
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
- Instrument type
- a regulation made under an act
What it requires
- If you manufacture, import or distribute any of the following products that are not radio equipment as Article 2, point 42, of the Law of defines it, and it is placed on the market after , the Royal Decree of applies to you: general-purpose consumer computer hardware, payment terminals, cash machines, ticketing machines, check-in machines, interactive information self-service terminals, consumer terminal equipment for electronic communications services or for access to audiovisual media services, and e-readers (Article 3(1)).
- Place on the market only products that meet Section I of Annex 1 and, unless the product is a self-service terminal, Section II of Annex 1 (Article 4).
- Manufacturers must design and manufacture products in accordance with the requirements, draw up the technical documentation and carry out the conformity assessment under Annex 2, draw up an EU declaration of conformity and affix the CE marking, keep the documentation and the declaration for five years, and have procedures that keep series production conforming (Article 5(1) to (4)).
- Manufacturers must mark the product with an identifier, their name and contact address, and supply instructions and information in a language easy to understand for consumers and end users (Article 5(5) to (7)).
- A manufacturer that believes a product does not conform must take corrective measures at once or withdraw it, tell the market surveillance authorities with the nature of the non-conformity and the measures taken, keep a register of non-conforming products and complaints, and give the authorities on request the information and documentation they need (Article 5(8) and (9)).
- A manufacturer may appoint an authorised representative by written mandate, but cannot delegate the Article 5(1) duty or the drawing up of the technical documentation, and the representative keeps the EU declaration of conformity and the technical documentation for five years and cooperates with the authorities (Article 6).
- Affix the CE marking visibly, legibly and indelibly on the product, data plate, packaging or accompanying documents, before the product is placed on the market, in accordance with Article 30 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 (Articles 14 and 15(1) and (2)).
- Importers must place only conforming products on the market, check before doing so that the manufacturer carried out the conformity assessment and drew up the technical documentation and that the product bears the CE marking, keep a copy of the EU declaration of conformity for five years, and tell the manufacturer and the authorities of non-conformity (Article 7).
- Distributors must act with due care, check the CE marking, documents and instructions before making a product available, keep storage and transport conditions that preserve conformity, and tell the authorities of non-conformity (Article 8).
- An importer or distributor that places a product on the market under its own name or trademark, or modifies a product already on the market so that conformity may be affected, has the manufacturer's obligations (Article 9).
- Tell the market surveillance authorities on request which operator supplied you with a product and to which operator you supplied it, for five years after supply (Article 10).
- The requirements apply only to the extent that compliance does not require a significant change resulting in a fundamental alteration of the nature of the product and does not impose a disproportionate burden; assess this on the Annex 3 criteria, document the assessment, keep the results for five years after the product was last made available, and give the authorities information on request (Article 11(1) to (3) and (6)).
- On a reasoned request the market surveillance authorities may exempt a micro-enterprise from the duty to document the assessment, and you cannot rely on the disproportionate burden exception if you receive public or private funding, other than your own resources, to improve accessibility (Article 11(4) and (5)).
- If you rely on the exception, say in the EU declaration of conformity which accessibility requirements it covers (Article 13(1)).
- A product that meets harmonised standards, or parts of them, published in the Official Journal of the European Union is presumed to conform to the requirements to the extent the standards cover them (Article 12).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
Article XV.99/1 of the Code of Economic Law punishes a breach of the decrees made under Article VIII.57 with a level 2 sanction, which the explanatory memorandum equates with an administrative or criminal fine of EUR 208 to EUR 80,000.
Penalty structure
Article XV.99/1 punishes a breach of the decrees made under Article VIII.57 with a level 2 sanction, a fine of EUR 208 to EUR 80,000 or a settlement of EUR 26 to EUR 60,000, and a bad-faith breach with a level 3 sanction, a fine of EUR 208 to EUR 200,000 or a settlement of EUR 26 to EUR 150,000, as the explanatory memorandum equates the levels. The amounts already include the additional decimals. The fine is administrative or criminal: the officials designated under Article XV.60/4 impose the administrative fine and may suspend its execution if the offender carries out the corrective measures they set (Article XV.62/7), and the court may order additional corrective measures (Article XV.132). Where a formal non-conformity persists, the minister or the minister's delegate may restrict or prohibit making the product available or have it withdrawn from the market (Article XV.18/7(2)).
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Minimum
- 208
- Currency
- EUR
- Fixed cap
- 200,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Directorate-General for Energy (Algemene Directie Energie) of the Federal Public Service Economy, which Article 2, point 27, of the decree designates as the Belgian market surveillance authority; the officials designated under Article XV.2 of the Code of Economic Law and the minister also hold the powers of Article XV.18/7
What this law does
Article 1 of the decree states that it partly transposes Directive 2019/882/EU. The decree is made under Article VIII.57 of the Code of Economic Law. Article 4(1) of the Directive requires Member States to ensure that economic operators only place on the market products that comply with the accessibility requirements in its Annex I. Article 3(1) applies the decree to the products it lists that are not radio equipment as the Law of defines it.
Article 3(1) lists general-purpose consumer computer hardware, payment terminals, cash machines, ticketing machines, check-in machines, interactive information self-service terminals, consumer terminal equipment for electronic communications services and for access to audiovisual media services, and e-readers, placed on the market after . Article 2, point 11, defines an economic operator as a manufacturer, authorised representative, importer, distributor or service provider.
Article 4 requires economic operators to place on the market only products that meet the accessibility requirements in Annex 1. Article 4 requires all products to meet Section I of Annex 1, and all products except self-service terminals to meet Section II. Article 5(1) requires manufacturers to ensure that their products are designed and manufactured in accordance with the applicable accessibility requirements.
Article 5(2) requires manufacturers to draw up the technical documentation and carry out the conformity assessment, then to draw up an EU declaration of conformity and affix the CE marking. Article 5(3) requires manufacturers to keep the technical documentation and the EU declaration of conformity for five years after the product is placed on the market.
Article 5(8) requires a manufacturer that has reason to believe a product does not conform to take corrective measures at once, and to inform the market surveillance authorities. Article 7(1) requires importers to place only conforming products on the market. Article 8(1) requires distributors that make a product available to act with due care in relation to the requirements of the decree.
Article 9 treats an importer or distributor as the manufacturer when it places a product on the market under its own name or trademark. Article 11(1) applies the requirements only to the extent that compliance does not require a fundamental alteration of the product and does not impose a disproportionate burden on the operators. Article 11(3) requires operators to document the assessment and keep the results for five years after the product was last made available.
Article 11(4) lets the market surveillance authorities, on a reasoned request, exempt micro-enterprises from the documentation duty. Article 14(4) of the Directive exempts microenterprises dealing with products from the requirement to document their assessment. Article 11(5) bars an operator that receives public or private funding for accessibility from relying on the disproportionate burden defence.
Article 11(6) requires an operator that relies on the defence for a specific product to give the market surveillance authorities the information they need to examine it. Article 14(8) of the Directive excepts microenterprises from the duty to send the market surveillance authorities information on reliance on the defence.
Article 12 presumes that products meeting harmonised standards, or parts of them, published in the Official Journal of the European Union conform to the accessibility requirements to the extent the standards cover them. Article 2, point 27, designates the Directorate-General for Energy of the Federal Public Service Economy as the Belgian market surveillance authority.
Article XV.18/7(1) of the Code of Economic Law requires the officials designated under Article XV.2 to call on the operator to end a non-conformity that they find. Article XV.18/7(2) lets the minister or the minister's delegate restrict or prohibit making the product available, or have it withdrawn from the market, if the defect continues. Article XV.99/1 punishes breach of the decrees made under Article VIII.57 with a level 2 sanction, and a bad-faith breach with a level 3 sanction.
The explanatory memorandum to that Law equates a level 2 sanction with an administrative or criminal fine of EUR 208 to EUR 80,000. The memorandum gives for a level 2 sanction a settlement of EUR 26 to EUR 60,000 under the Royal Decree of . The memorandum gives for a level 3 sanction an administrative or criminal fine of EUR 208 to EUR 200,000 or a settlement of EUR 26 to EUR 150,000.
Article XV.18/5(1) lets any person lodge a complaint about the accessibility of products and services free of charge with the officials designated under Article XV.2. Article XV.62/7 lets the officials designated under Article XV.60/4, who impose the administrative fine, decide that it is not executed, or only in part, if the offender carries out the corrective measures they set. The explanatory memorandum to the Law of places Article VIII.57 in Title 4 of Book VIII of the Code.
Article 36 of the Law of adds Titles 4 and 5 of Book VIII to the provisions listed in Article XVII.37, point 1, of the Code. The explanatory memorandum to that Law says that it inserts into Book XVII the possibility of an action for collective redress.
A bill on various economic provisions adds to Article I.9/1 of the Code a definition of product as a substance, preparation or good produced through a manufacturing process, other than food, feed, living plants and animals, products of human origin and products of plants and animals relating directly to their future reproduction. The Chamber adopted that bill in plenary on and submitted it for royal assent.
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