Application

Application (initial application)

Check first:

• whether the product or service is offered on the Community market for distribution, consumption or use, whether in return for payment or free of charge.
• whether you can make an application as a manufacturer, importer, service provider, wholesaler or retailer.
• which competent body in the Member State is responsible for the application.  
• whether there is a basis for the award of a contract for the product or service you offer. Documents on the respective award criteria are available for download. Check in the criteria of the respective award criteria whether your product or service is covered by the respective scope of application.  At the EU, new proposals can be submitted to the helpdesk.

If you are not sure whether an application can be submitted for your product or service, you are also welcome to firstly contact RAL gGmbH to clarify this issue.

If the criteria of the respective award criteria are met, an application for use for the respective product or service can be submitted to RAL gGmbH online via the WEB-PORTAL. All necessary documents for the application can be uploaded simultaneously in the WEB-PORTAL. Further information can be found in the instructions WEB-PORTAL.

If you have to submit samples, please send them to the responsible contact at RAL gGmbH at

RAL gGmbH
Fränkische Straße 7
53229 Bonn
Germany

Examination process

After your application documents have been received by RAL gGmbH, you will receive an automatic confirmation of receipt via E-mail. After acceptance of the application by RAL gGmbH, you will receive an application invoice in accordance with the schedule of fees. You will find the registration number on the invoice for the application fee. This number must be stated together with the EU Ecolabel Logo during the period of use of the label.

The application will be examined after your payment has been received. The time required for this process will depend on the general volume of applications received by RAL gGmbH. The aim is to process applications within two months if possible. The processing time depends heavily on the completeness, comprehensibility and correctness of the submitted documents. If application documents are missing, incomplete or incorrect, you will be notified accordingly so that you can resubmit the documents.

You will receive two contracts at the same time or possibly a little later. Once both of these contracts have been returned signed to RAL gGmbH, they will be countersigned by RAL gGmbH if the application is examined positively. At the same time as the contract is issued, the applicant will receive the invoice for the annual fee based on the schedule of fees.

On request, RAL gGmbH will then produce certificates confirming the successful award of the EU Ecolabel.

Registration and publication

For publication in the Ecolabel Catalogue (ECAT) maintained by the EU, the applicant or licence holder must enter their contract details in ECAT. This will then be confirmed in the ECAT system by RAL gGmbH. It is not possible for RAL gGmbH to enter this information.

If the applicant or contractual partner is using ECAT for the first time, they are required to complete the initial registration process in ECAT. 

Publication in the list of products and suppliers on the RAL gGmbH website will be completed automatically after conclusion of the contract.

Period of use

During the period of use, the label holder has the contractual right to use the EU Ecolabel.

The relevant Basic Award Criteria for the group of products and services states the contractually agreed period of use for the EU Ecolabel. During this period, the contractual partner is required to pay an annual fee each year based on the schedule of fees.

Before the expiry of the contractually agreed period of use, the following situations can occur:

1. The criteria in the relevant Basic Award Criteria may be extended by the European Commission following a decision by the Regulation Committee. In this case, the contract will continue without amendments until the end of the new period of use, which will be stated in the corresponding Commission Decision.
2. The criteria for the group of products or services may be amended by the European Commission following a decision by the Regulation Committee.

This decision will generally give existing label holders the right to continue using the EU Ecolabel for one year from the date of the decision so that they can apply during this year to the body responsible for awarding the label (Competent Body) to renew the contracts.

The contract will be cancelled by RAL gGmbH after this one year period expires.

If the contract has not been renewed, the use of the EU Ecolabel is no longer permitted. However, the EU allows label holders a subsequent period of six months to sell already labelled products or services.

Following the publication of new Basic Award Criteria, it is only possible for new contracts to be concluded either based on the new Basic Award Criteria or for a limited time based on the old Basic Award Criteria.

Application (subsequent applications)

If the same applicant/label holder wishes to apply for the EU Ecolabel for other products/services, please note the following information:

1. A completely new application is required in the case of products with completely new characteristics. The process is then the same as the initial application. However, depending on the nature of the product, they will only receive an additional annex to the contract already issued. 
2. If an already certified product is to be additionally placed on the market by another distributor, a new application must also be submitted, in this case an extension application. Which application documents have to be submitted can be found in some of the award criteria in the checklist, otherwise please contact the responsible contact person at RAL gGmbH. The subsequent process is the same as for the initial application. The application fee is reduced by 50% in this case.
3. If the applicant wishes to offer an already registered product with small modifications (e.g. in a different packaging size), it must be registered via the WEB PORTAL in the menu "Contract update". If at least one of the award criteria is affected by the modification, the applicant must submit the corresponding application documents with respect to this criterion. The application fee is reduced by 50% in this case. The new product will be included in the existing contract. The new products should be registered by the applicant in ECAT.
4. f the applicant wishes to offer an already registered product (unchanged) but under a new product name (e.g. in a different EU country), it must be registered via the WEB PORTAL in the menu "Contract update". The new product name will be added to the existing contract, the application fee will be reduced by 50% in this case. The new products should be registered by the applicant in ECAT.

Modification of a product

If the applicant wishes to modify an already registered product, the modification only needs to be registered with RAL gGmbH if it affects at least one of the Basic Award Criteria. The corresponding application documents for this criterion must be submitted. The product can only be modified after the documents have been successfully checked by RAL gGmbH. Fees are payable based on the type and scope of the modification.

If the product data that has been entered in ECAT changes due to the modification, these changes should be registered by the applicant in ECAT.

Licence renewals

If the Basic Award Criteria expire and are replaced by a new version with amended criteria, the label holder can generally submit a licence renewal application within one year on the basis of the new criteria without any interruption to their use of the logo. The process is usually the same as that for a new application, although it may be possible to use the checks carried out for the initial application. Licence holders should get in touch with the relevant contact person at RAL gGmbH in this case. After successful checking of the application by RAL gGmbH, the applicant will receive a new contract with a new registration number. The product should be registered in ECAT as new products.