The Creosote (Prohibition on Use and Marketing) Regulations 2003

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"the Directive" means Commission Directive 2001/90/EC[5] adapting to technical progress for the seventh time Annex 1 to Council Directive 76/769/EEC[6] on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations;

"dangerous substance or preparation" means a substance or preparation used for wood treatment and containing one or more of the substances referred to in the Annex to the Directive and set out in the Schedule to these Regulations;

"industrial or professional use" includes use on railways, in electric power transmission and telecommunications, for fencing, for agricultural purposes (such as stakes for tree support) and in harbours and waterways;

"supply" includes offering to supply, agreeing to supply, exposing for supply and possessing for supply, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly; and

"treated wood" means wood that has been treated with a dangerous substance or preparation.

Prohibition of certain use of a dangerous substance or preparation
     4.  - (1) Subject to the following paragraph, no person shall use a dangerous substance or preparation in the treatment of wood.

    (2) A dangerous substance or preparation may be so used - 

(a) in industrial installations; or

(b) by professionals covered by European Community legislation on the protection of workers for in situ retreatment,

provided that the dangerous substance or preparation is applied only for an industrial or professional use and contains - 

(i) benzo-a-pyrene at a concentration of less than 0.005 per cent by mass; and

(ii) water extractable phenols at a concentration of less than 3 per cent by mass.

Supply and marking of a dangerous substance or preparation
     5.  - (1) Subject to the following paragraph, no person shall supply - 

(a) a dangerous substance or preparation for use in the treatment of wood; or

(b) treated wood.

    (2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the supply of a dangerous substance or preparation in respect of which regulation 4(2) applies, provided - 

(a) the packaging in which the dangerous substance or preparation is supplied bears, in lettering which is indelible and easily legible, the words "For use in industrial installations or professional treatment only";

(b) the said packaging has a capacity equal to or greater than 20 litres; and

(c) the dangerous substance or preparation is sold to a person who is not a consumer.

Prohibition of use of treated wood
     6. Treated wood in respect of which regulation 4(2) or regulation 7 applies may not be used - 

(a) inside any building;

(b) in toys;

(c) in playgrounds;

(d) in parks, gardens and outdoor recreational and leisure facilities where there is a risk of frequent skin contact;

(e) in the manufacture of garden furniture (such as picnic tables); or

(f) for the manufacture and use and any retreatment of - 


(i) containers intended for growing purposes;

(ii) packaging which may come into contact with raw materials, intermediate or finished products intended for human or animal consumption; or

(iii) any other materials which may contaminate the products mentioned in this sub-paragraph (f).

Second-hand treated wood
     7. Wood that has been treated with a dangerous substance or preparation before these Regulations come into force may be supplied thereafter for second-hand use.

Regulations to be treated as safety regulations within the meaning of the 1987 Act
     8.  - (1) To the extent that they relate to the supply of a dangerous substance or preparation or treated wood, and subject to paragraph (2), these Regulations shall be treated as if they were safety regulations within the meaning of the 1987 Act.

    (2) Any person who contravenes regulation 4 or regulation 6 shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.


Melanie Johnson
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Competition, Consumers and Markets,Department of Trade and Industry

13th March 2003

[2] S.I. 1992/1711 and S.I. 1993/2661.back

[3] 1972 c. 68.back

[4] S.I. 1999/3244.back

[5] OJ No. L283, 27.10.01, p. 41.back

[6] OJ No. L262, 27.9.76, p. 201.back

[7] In the Directive, each substance as referred to in the Schedule to these Regulations is identified by reference to its EINECS number and to its CAS number. The EINECS number is given in the European Inventory of Existing Commercial Chemical Substances (OJ No. C146A, 15.6.90, p.1), and the CAS number is the one assigned by the Chemical Abstracts Service and given in the CAS Registry Handbook, ISSN 0093-058X.back