EMAS III enters into force - 17.02.2010

For the second time the EMAS Regulation has been revised and modified as Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 on the voluntary participation by organisations in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS) entered into force on 11 January 2010. The scheme has been amended following the review of the performance of the second version of EMAS and modifications have been made to ensure that EMAS is a high quality environmental management scheme. It has also been modified to include measures for reducing administrative burdens for EMAS registered organisations and creating incentives for raising the attractiveness of the scheme, particularly for smaller organisations. In addition, the scope of the scheme has been extended to allow organisations outside of the European Community to gain EMAS registration with EMAS verifiers who are inside the European Community.

The full text of the regulations can be found here.

More information on EMAS from the European Commission can be found here.