Recital (17)

In light of the harmful nature of plastic pellets when lost to the environment and considering the general obligation on economic operators and carriers to avoid plastic pellet losses as set out in this Regulation, it is appropriate to set out specific information requirements in the form of a pictogram and a warning statement. In order to reduce the burden on economic operators and carriers, such requirements should be possible to implement by taking into consideration the already existing obligations under Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006. Paragraphs 7 and 10 of entry 78 of that Annex set out information requirements for suppliers of synthetic polymer microparticles. For the purposes of this Regulation, suppliers of synthetic polymer microparticles should be understood as any manufacturer, importer, downstream user or distributor placing on the market plastic pellets which are synthetic polymer microparticles. They should provide relevant information on the label, the packaging, the package leaflet or on the safety data sheet. They should be able to provide that relevant information when providing the information as laid down in entry 78, paragraph 10, of Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006. As the different possible means of providing that relevant information can vary in their effectiveness with regard to contributing to achieving the general obligation of avoiding losses, it is appropriate for the Commission to assess their relative effectiveness in the context of its review of this Regulation.