(fra kommisjonsforordningen)

(1) Regulation (EU) 2024/590 permits the critical uses of halons listed in Annex V until the end dates specified therein.

(2) Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2024/590 establishes 31 December 2025 as the end date for the critical use of portable fire extinguishers containing halon-1211 or halon-2402 for the protection of aircraft cabins and crew compartments. This means that their import, placing on the market, use and export is prohibited from that date.

(3) Under the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), portable halon-based fire extinguishers may no longer be installed on aircraft for which the individual certificate of airworthiness was first issued on or after 31 December 2018. Nevertheless, aircraft for which the individual certificate of airworthiness was first issued before that date may continue to operate with such extinguishers, where permitted under the law of the State of registry.

(4) Germany requested, pursuant to Article 9(4) of Regulation (EU) 2024/590, a derogation concerning aircraft registered in third countries and equipped with portable fire extinguishers containing, or whose functioning relies upon, halon-1211 or halon-2402 that temporarily enter the Union for maintenance, repair or overhaul activities and then leave the territory.

(5) Having examined the specific case covered by Germany’s request, no economically feasible alternative is currently available within the meaning of Article 9(4) of Regulation (EU) 2024/590 that would allow maintenance, repair or overhaul to be carried out within the Union without permitting the temporary import into and export from the Union of the aircraft and, where necessary, of portable fire extinguishers or parts thereof. It is therefore appropriate to grant a time-limited derogation (‘the derogation’) from the end date laid down for that specific case in Annex V to that Regulation.

(6) In order for the derogation to be effective, the specific case should include the temporary import into and subsequent export from the Union of the aircraft concerned and, where strictly necessary for the maintenance, repair or overhaul of such aircraft, the import into and supply within the Union of portable fire extinguishers containing, or whose functioning relies upon, halon-1211 or halon-2402, or parts thereof.

(7) Without the derogation provided for in this Regulation, such aircraft would be prevented from obtaining the maintenance, repair or overhaul necessary to maintain their airworthiness in the Union where portable fire extinguishers containing, or whose functioning relies upon, halon-1211 or halon-2402 require replacement or servicing. This would effectively prevent Union maintenance, repair and overhaul providers from servicing a significant part of the existing third-country fleet that remains lawfully equipped with such fire extinguishers.

(8) In order to ensure that the derogation remains proportionate, it should apply only to aircraft manufactured before 31 December 2018.

(9) In accordance with Article 9(4) of Regulation (EU) 2024/590, reporting requirements are to be included in the derogation for monitoring its use.

(10) Nothing in this Regulation should prevent the replacement, during maintenance, repair or overhaul, of portable fire extinguishers containing halons with suitable non-halon alternatives that comply with applicable Union and international aviation legislation.

(11) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Regulation (EU) 2024/590,