Fluorinated greenhouse Gases

Fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-Gases) include hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) as listed in Annex I [128 KB] of Regulation (EC) No 842/2006 and preparations containing those substances. The substances, their CAS numbers, their GWP as well as their typical applications are listed in the Annex of this document.

Apart from pure substances, preparations (blends) containing F-Gases are in use. Preparations under the F-Gas Regulation are defined as mixtures of two or more substances of which at least one is an F-Gas and where the total GWP is not less than 150.

For the calculation of the total GWP of the preparation, the GWPs of the F-gas(es) and the other components in the preparation (or blend) have to be taken into consideration.

To determine the GWP of non-F-Gases in preparations, the values published in the First IPCC Assessment^[1] should be used. For F-gases, the relevant GWP values are listed in Annex I of Regulation (EC) 842/2006.

In the context of the F-Gas reporting requirements, placing on the market means supplying or making available to a third party within the European Community for the first time (against payment or free of charge) bulk quantities of F-Gases. This includes import into the customs territory of the EC. F-Gases contained in imported equipment are excluded from the definition.

A co-producer is a producer of F-Gases in the EU who conducts transactions with another producer in the EU for commercial reasons e.g. sells or purchases F-Gases to/from another producer in the EU.

Feedstock is any substance that undergoes chemical transformation in a process by which the chemical is entirely converted from its original composition and whose emissions are insignificant.

Reclamation means the reprocessing of a recovered F-gas in order to meet a specified standard of performance.

Recycling means the reuse of a recovered F-gas following a basic cleaning process.

In the context of this Regulation, destruction means the process by which all or most of the F-Gas is permanently transformed or decomposed into one or more stable substances which are not F-Gases.

A report must be submitted by each legal entity which, during the previous calendar year, produced more than one metric tonne of F-Gases (or preparations containing F-Gases) in the EU, or imported more than one metric tonne of F-Gases (or preparations containing F-Gases) into the EU, or exported more than one metric tonne of F-Gases (or preparations containing F-Gases) from the EU.

The relevant quantity of F-Gases imported or exported covers bulk shipments, including F-Gases shipped with equipment for the purpose of charging that equipment but not F-Gases contained in imported or exported equipment (i.e. pre-charged equipment).

Entities are considered to be importers or exporters only if they import or export F-gases from/to countries outside the European Union^[2].

Entities are not considered to be importers/exporters if they only purchase or sell F-Gases to entities in other Member States of the European Union^[2]. Shipments between Member States of the EU are not considered to be imports/exports.

Please note that trade with specific territories which are not part of the European Union is considered to be import or export. In cases of doubt you should contact your Member State contact point [62 KB] or the entity designated by the Commission.

One report is necessary for each individual legal entity. Several legal entities, e.g. affiliated entities registered in different Member States, should not submit one combined report.

Furthermore, an entity registered outside the EU, such as an affiliated entity located outside the EU, cannot submit a report to the Commission on behalf of a legal entity registered in the EU.

The reporting is normally made at the company level, not the facility level. Thus a single report should normally cover all relevant activities of all facilities operated by the legal entity registered in a Member State.

Ozone-depleting substances (CFCs, HCFCs, halons, methyl bromide, etc.) are covered by Regulation (EC) 1005/2009 which has separate reporting requirements. These substances are not classified as F-gases. If your entity meets the criteria for submitting reports on F-Gases (HFCs, PFCs, SF6), as described above, a separate report about F-Gases must also be submitted.

Only entities which meet the criteria for reporting must submit a report. The F-gas reporting requirements do not require a nil report to be submitted.

The report must be submitted before 31 March of every year, and should cover your company’s activities in the previous calendar year, i.e. from 1 January to 31 December.

The format of the report has been established by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1493/2007. Entities should use only that format.

The reporting forms are available in excel (.xls) and pdf format.

Excel format: This version can be completed electronically and contains macros which help entities to complete the forms correctly. The Commission encourages the use of this format, if possible.

Pdf format: This version is available in all EU languages in the Annex of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1493/2007. This form can only be completed manually.

The reporting form is available in pdf format in all official languages and in excel format in English. The text and content of the excel form is the same as all of the language versions published in the Annex of Regulation (EC) No 1493/2007. The report may be submitted in any official EU language.

No password is required. If the Excel file requests a password, the file may have become corrupted. A fresh copy of the excel file should be downloaded.

For ticking the boxes macros have to be enabled. See the following question for instructions how to enable macros.

When you have completed ‘Part 3’ of the Excel reporting form, the correct forms will be generated automatically.  The electronic Excel reporting form contains macros to generate the relevant forms.  However, some software may block the macros, and as a result certain forms may not appear on your screen. If this problem occurs, change your settings in Excel to ‘medium’ level of security (under tools/options/macro security). Then, when you open the electronic form, a window will appear asking about macros – select ‘enable macros’.

Part 3 of the form contains a section on Company Contact Information.  You should complete each line or box of the Company Contact Information fully and accurately.

The contact details are very important as they allow the Commission, or the entity designated by the Commission to collect the reports, to follow up in the event that any clarification is required.

Sometimes producers purchase and sell F-Gases between them for commercial reasons. Both the selling producer i.e. the original producer, and the purchasing producer, defined as co-producers, are required to report those transactions. The result of such transactions is reflected in the net amount available for sale in the Community, by each co-producer, and their intended applications.

Entities that need to submit a report can select the relevant forms by:

• Step 1 Identifying the entity’s role: Was your entity a producer, co-producer, importer or exporter?
• Step 2 Identifying the types of F-Gases and the specific substances involved

The table below should help you identify the relevant forms to be completed.

No, only the forms for the activities (production, import, export) for which the threshold is exceeded have to be filled out. If a company for example produces more than 1 tonne of f-gases and exports 0,5 tonne of f-gases, only the producer forms need to be filled out.

Only producers of f-gases should fill out the purchases from Community co-producers and sales to Community co-producers. Importers and exporters must not fill out these sections.

Refer to table below for some examples on how to report:

Examples of blends which may contain F-Gases:

Source: 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, p. 7.44

R134a (HFC-134a) is a pure substance, not a blend (preparation).  Figures for R-134a production and imports should be written in ‘Producer and Importer Form 1: HFCs’ (in Part 4) in the column for HFC-134a. Figures for R-134a exports should be written in the ‘Exporter Form’ (in Part 7) in the row for HFC-134a.

The reporting format as established by Commission Regulation 1493/2007 requires that quantities are expressed in metric tonnes.

Reporting entities are required to certify that "all information submitted is true, accurate and complete". This implies that it is necessary for entities to express quantities in sufficient detail to avoid inaccurate results.

All F-Gases that are shipped alongside equipment (for the purpose of charging that equipment later) have to be reported as import/export^[3]. However, F-Gases contained in equipment when shipped (i.e. pre-charged equipment) do not have to be reported under the F-gas regulations.

F-Gases produced as a by-product during the production of other chemicals (e.g. HFC-23 from the production of HCFC-22) must be reported as new production only when captured.

The reporting forms require information on stocks (quantities) of F-gases held by your entity at the beginning (1 January) and end (31 December) of the calendar year that you are reporting on.

Importers should only report the stocks which had been imported from outside the EC.  Quantities of F-Gases obtained from suppliers within the EU that are stored from one year to the next should be excluded.  Importers should therefore put in place procedures to distinguish EU-sourced stocks from imported stocks. 

However, producers should report all stockpiled quantities regardless of source.

Reporting best estimates of intended applications is very important as it provides information on how the F-Gases are being used. In order to comply with this reporting requirement, entities should develop appropriate tools and procedures to enable them to estimate the intended applications of the quantities placed on the market.  Typical applications of F-Gases covered by the reporting requirements are listed in the Annex of this document.

Please take into account the footnotes in the reporting forms that provide further guidance on how to correctly fill out the cells for the intended applications.

In section 1, the annual total exported outside the European Community has to be indicated. In section 2, additional information should be provided if the quantities indicated in section 1 are destined for recycling, reclamation or destruction. Section 2 is therefore a subset of section 1.

Yes, this is possible since the amount exported for sale outside the Community refers to the total exports of a certain f-gas outside the Community. Therefore, it is possible that a company has exported more f-gases than it has produced or imported. This situation will lead to a negative value for the net amount available for sale in the Community and for the total amount placed on the Community market.

The reports need to be submitted to the European Environment Agency (EEA) using the online Business Data Repository (BDR). A quick guide on how to use BDR is available in our CIRCA online forum. Further information is available on the BDR website.

The Commission has established procedures to ensure that all of the data relating to individual companies will be kept strictly confidential. The raw data is recorded in a confidential database and analysed by the Commission and a contractor selected by competitive tendering procedures.  The contractor’s contract contains strict confidentiality clauses.

No company-specific information is disclosed to the public; all company data are aggregated into summary reports before being made available to the public.

For any additional questions concerning reporting pursuant to Article 6(1) of Regulation (EC) No 842/2006, please contact f-gases.reporting@eea.europa.eu or the contact points in Member States [62 KB].