Through Resolution No. 438/2024 (the “Resolution”), published in the Official Gazette on November 26th 2024, the Secretariat of Industry and Commerce approved the Technical Regulation that establishes the essential requirements and characteristics for energy efficiency labeling to which all new products or appliances that require the use of an energy source for their operation or whose use has an impact on their consumption must comply, to be marketed in the territory of the Argentine Republic.
The standard covers the following products: refrigerators, freezers, electric washing machines, air conditioners, microwave ovens, electric storage water heaters, lamps, televisions, induction motors (single-phase and three-phase), dishwashers, electric ovens, and electric pumps. Annex II of the Resolution details the appliances specifically included and excluded and their specific technical requirements.
The procedures established in the Resolution will be carried out through the “Remote Procedures” Platform (“TAD” for its acronym in Spanish).
According to the provisions of the regulation, in addition to the Affidavit and the conformity assessment, manufacturers and importers will have the following obligations:
a. They must ensure that all products covered by the regulation bear the relevant energy efficiency label in the established location and, if applicable, the information sheet.
b. They will provide the corresponding energy efficiency label to marketers, free of charge, when marketers request it.
c. They will not introduce models on the market whose performance is automatically altered under test conditions, in order to reach a more favorable level for any of the parameters established in this measure or in those parameters detailed in any of the documents provided with the product.
d. They must include in any catalog, physical or digital, that contains a technical sheet of the products, the corresponding energy efficiency label or the information contained therein.
e. When the tests on a model yield a result that is detrimental to the parameters reported on the energy efficiency label, the energy efficiency label of the model and the product sheet must be modified, making both available to marketers, notifying the Enforcement Authority, and modifying in turn the information provided in the database provided for in Article 7 of the Resolution.
f. Prior to marketing, the Enforcement Authority must be provided with the necessary information about the energy efficiency of each marketed model of the products covered by the standard (listed in Annex II of the Resolution), in order to feed the Database created for this purpose.
In addition, distributors and marketers, wholesalers and/or retailers of products covered by the new regulation must (i) require their suppliers to comply with this regulation, for which they must have a simple copy of the sworn declaration of conformity, in paper or digital format, to be displayed when required. (ii) Likewise, marketers must ensure that the energy efficiency label is displayed visibly and must comply with the requirements for the sale of products, in accordance with the provisions of sections 5 and 6 of Annex I of the Resolution (advertising and online sales, respectively).
Regarding its implementation, manufacturers and importers must ensure that all equipment introduced into the market has the energy efficiency label, in accordance with the provisions of Annex I and the specific requirements approved in Article 9 no later than March 5, 2026; up to the same date, marketers must ensure that (i) the above-mentioned obligations are complied with in all advertising and sales channels, and (ii) that the corresponding energy efficiency label is included for those products on display. Notwithstanding the foregoing, as of March 5, 2028, the wholesale and retail marketing of products whose labels do not comply with the provisions of the Resolution must cease.
Regarding the transition of the currently valid regimes, the Resolution establishes that (i) the valid certificates granted under the repealed standards will remain valid until March 5, 2026, provided that the corresponding surveillance is carried out to maintain the validity of the certification, (ii) the test reports issued under the repealed standards will remain valid as provided in each appendix where the specific requirements are established for each of the products listed in Annex II of this measure. (iii) For those products that have the obligation to indicate the consumption information in standby mode, said obligation will be enforceable as of March 5, 2027, with the exception of the products covered by Appendix IV of Annex II (Microwave Ovens) and by Appendix VII of Annex II (Televisions) which must continue to include it on the labels. Finally, during the period of coexistence of the repealed regulations and the Resolution, manufacturers and importers of the products covered by said measure will be considered to guarantee compliance in accordance with the law if they prove the requirements established by either of the two Regimes.
Violations of the provisions of the Resolution will be subject to the sanctions provided for by Decree No. 274/19, Law No. 24,240 and its amendments, without prejudice to criminal, civil or administrative liability.
