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  4. Paints and varnishes 096
Färgburk med målarpensel i

Paints and varnishes 096

The product group includes indoor and outdoor paints and varnishes, wood stains and related products. In addition, industrial paints and varnishes, anti-corrosion paint for industry and infrastructure and wood oils are included.

With long shelf lives and strict quality requirements, paints and varnishes with the Nordic Swan Ecolabel help reduce resource use. They promote circular economy and reduces the climate impact of paints and varnishes.

The requirements include:

  • Test of quality, durability, and efficiency.
  • Environmental and health properties of chemicals. There are strict requirements on substances that are classified with respect to carcinogenicity, can damage genes or reproductive capacity. There is also a ban on phthalates as well as problematic substances such as identified or potential endocrine disruptors on up-to-date lists from the EU and national authorities.
  • Limits on emissions from harmful substances.
  • Limits on greenhouse gases from raw materials with high climate impact such as titanium dioxide and cement/hydraulic binders.
  • Use of recycled materials in packaging.
  • Use of renewable raw materials that originate from responsibly produced and controlled sources.
There are 2385 Ecolabelled products from 15 companies within productgroup.

  • Welcome to apply for a Nordic Swan Ecolabel licence!

    This is how you do:

    1. Read the application guide.
    2. Log in to the Nordic Ecolabelling Portal.
    3. Start your application.

     

    If this is the first time you are applying, the authorized signatory must fill in your company information and approve the application conditions. In this way, you get login to the portal and the right to assign access to other colleagues.

     

    Request login

    To the Nordic Ecolabelling Portal

    Some special cases can not be done in the Nordic Ecolabelling Portal. Contact your advisor for such cases. More information can be found on "Application step by step".

  • Fees are charged according to the price list below. Exceptions apply to Indoor paints and varnishes and Outdoor paints and varnishes (from product group 097), which are counted as one product group.

    Valid from 1 January 2025 Amount excluding VAT

    Application fee

    Application for a new licence 3 348 EUR. Inspection of eight recipes is included in the application fee. For inspection of additional recipes, 418 EUR per recipe will be charged.
    Application for a renewed licence when the requirements have been tightened 1 673 EUR. Inspection of eight recipes is included in the fee. For inspection of additional recipes, 209 EUR per recipe will be charged.

    Annual licence fee

    The licence fee for the Nordic Swan Ecolabelled products is based on their turnover in the Nordic countries The fee is 0.3% of the products' turnover in the Nordic countries up to 30.9 million EUR.
    The fee is 0.05% of the products' turnover in the Nordic countries for the amount exceeding 30.9 million EUR.
    Minimum fee in the Nordic countries 2 232 EUR per year.
    Fixed fee that is added for sales outside the Nordic countries 2 232 EUR per year if the turnover exceeds 309 000 EUR.

    Fee for extension / change of licence

    Should the extension regard inspection of recipes, which are not already included in the licence, 418 EUR will be charged per recipe. Other types of alterations will be charged a fixed fee according to how long the work takes.

    Up to 4 hours 418 EUR
    4–8 hours 836 EUR
    8 or more hours 1 673 EUR

    Fee for on-site inspections

    One on-site inspection in the Nordic countries is included when applying for a new or renewed licence.

    Additional on-site inspection within the Nordic countries 557 EUR per visit.
    On-site inspection outside the Nordic region, but within Europe 1 673 EUR per visit.
    On-site inspection outside Europe 2 790 EUR per visit.
    Additional fee for on-site inspections lasting longer than one day 1 115 EUR per day.

    Ecolabelling Sweden AB has no financial profit purpose and is financed through the fees above along with an annual government grant. The company is however liable for VAT according to article 56 of the European Council Directive 2006/112/EC.

    Invoicing is made in SEK with the exchange rate from the first banking day of the year.

    When both the applicant and the manufacturer are micro-enterprises, the application fee is reduced by 50%. A micro-enterprise is in this context defined as an enterprise with less than 10 employees and an annual turnover (of both ecolabelled and not ecolabelled products) below 2 million EUR.

    Valid from 1 January 2024 Amount excluding VAT

    Application fee

    Application for a new licence 3 251 EUR. Inspection of eight recipes is included in the application fee. For inspection of additional recipes, 406 EUR per recipe will be charged.
    Application for a renewed licence when the requirements have been tightened 1 625 EUR. Inspection of eight recipes is included in the fee. For inspection of additional recipes, 203 EUR per recipe will be charged.

    Annual licence fee

    The licence fee for the Nordic Swan Ecolabelled products is based on their turnover in the Nordic countries The fee is 0.3% of the products' turnover in the Nordic countries up to 30 million EUR.
    The fee is 0.05% of the products' turnover in the Nordic countries for the amount exceeding 30 million EUR.
    Minimum fee in the Nordic countries 2 167 EUR per year.
    Fixed fee that is added for sales outside the Nordic countries 2 167 EUR per year if the turnover exceeds 300 000 EUR.

    Fee for extension / change of licence

    Should the extension regard inspection of recipes, which are not already included in the licence, 406 EUR will be charged per recipe. Other types of alterations will be charged a fixed fee according to how long the work takes.

    Up to 4 hours 406 EUR
    4–8 hours 812 EUR
    8 or more hours 1 625 EUR

    Fee for on-site inspections

    One on-site inspection in the Nordic countries is included when applying for a new or renewed licence.

    Additional on-site inspection within the Nordic countries 541 EUR per visit.
    On-site inspection outside the Nordic region, but within Europe 1 625 EUR per visit.
    On-site inspection outside Europe 2 709 EUR per visit.
    Additional fee for on-site inspections lasting longer than one day 1 083 EUR per day.

    Ecolabelling Sweden AB has no financial profit purpose and is financed through the fees above along with an annual government grant. The company is however liable for VAT according to article 56 of the European Council Directive 2006/112/EC.

    Invoicing is made in SEK with the exchange rate from the first banking day of the year.

    When both the applicant and the manufacturer are micro-enterprises, the application fee is reduced by 50%. A micro-enterprise is in this context defined as an enterprise with less than 10 employees and an annual turnover (of both ecolabelled and not ecolabelled products) below 2 million EUR.

    • For new applications granted after 1 July, a fee reduction will apply for the first year. The minimum or maximum fee and any breakpoint will be multiplied by the result of the following formula: “number of remaining days in the year” x 2 / 365.
      Breakpoint = Turnover where the percentage changes in the calculation of licence fee.
      Minimum fee = the lowest licence fee Nordic ecolabelling annually invoices a company or a Group per product/ commodity group/ certifying country.

      Should a former holder of a license/registration continue to make use of the Nordic Ecolabel without being granted a new license/registration, the Nordic Ecolabelling organization reserves the right to claim financial compensation. The size of such compensation shall be equivalent to the turnover-based license fee that a licensee would have been required to pay for a license, and a financial penalty, the severity of which is determined by the extent and duration of the infringement as well as the damages that Nordic Ecolabelling may have incurred as a result of such misuse. Such a financial penalty should not normally be less than EUR 4,000 (four thousand). The Nordic Ecolabelling organizations may also take legal action against the infringement of the Nordic Ecolabel or if rules in the prevailing version of the Logo Guideline for the Nordic Ecolabel are not fulfilled.

    Fee regulations for Nordic Ecolabellling

  • Information on the latest version of the criteria for paints and varnishes

    4.2 ⇛ 4.3: Adjustment of criteria

    Nordic Ecolabelling decided 24 September 2024, to extend the time-limited exemption in O3 for TMP to 2027-05-31. The new version is called 4.3 and is valid until 15 September 2028.

    4.1 ⇛ 4.2: Adjustment of criteria

    Nordic Ecolabelling decided 9 April 2024 to add an exemption for the antioxidant BHT that can be present in raw material in requirement O12. Furthermore, O2 has included the new CLP classifications that were added in O3 for communicative reasons. Lastly, an exemption that was part of the public consultation for industrial packaging >18 L are exempted from there requirement of recycled material. The new version is called 4.2 and is valid until 15 September 2028.

    4.0 ⇛ 4.1: Adjustment of criteria

    Nordic Ecolabelling decided 7 December 2023 to remove the requirement of recycled material in metal packaging completely. Furthermore, the limit values for recycled material in plastic packaging has been lowered from 40% to 30%. In addition, lids and handles are no longer exempted from the requirement and must comply with the overall requirement.

    The new version is called 4.1 and is valid until 15 September 2028.

    4.0: New criteria generation

    The criteria for Nordic Swan Ecolabel paints and varnishes were published on 15 september 2023. Version 4.0 of the criteria is valid until 15 september 2028.

    3.12 ⇛ 3.13: Prolongation of the validity of the criteria

    On 1 October 2024, Nordic Ecolabelling decided to prolong the criteria with 6 months until 30 June 2025. The new version is called 3.13.

    3.11 ⇛ 3.12: Adjustment of requirement

    On 9 May 2023, Nordic Ecolabelling decided to extend the exemption for respirable crystalline silica with classification H350i (O3). The new version is called 3.12.

    3.10 ⇛ 3.11: Adjustment of requirement and prolongation of the validity of the criteria

    Adjustment of O2 where the EUH208 requirement has been removed. Furthermore, the validity of the criteria has been prolonged with 6 months. The new version is called 3.11 and is valid until December 31, 2024. 

    3.9 ⇛ 3.10: Adjustment of requirements

    Adjustment of wet room colors that have been included in Table 4a for requirement O5 with a separate limit value for total amount of preservative. The new version is called 3.10.

    3.8 ⇛ 3.9: Adjustment of requirements

    Adjustment of the time-based trimethylolpropane (TMP) exemption. The current exemption will apply during the period of validity of the criteria and TMP will be re-evaluated during the development of new criteria. The new version is called 3.9.

    3.7 ⇛ 3.8: Prolongation and adjustment of requirements

    The vaidity of the criteria have been prolonged by 12 months until 30 June 2024. Futhermore three have been adjustment of requirements O3, O4, O5 and O6. The new version is called 3.8.

    3.6 ⇛ 3.7: Adjustment of requirements

    Adjustment of the requirements for O3 Classification of chemical substances, O9 Titanium dioxide and O11 Nanoparticles. The new version is called 3.7.

    3.5 ⇛ 3.6: Adjustment of criteria

    Adjustment regarding the harmonization of the reclassification of MIT with the Nordic Ecolabel requirements for preservatives and the applicable exemption for the dispersant trimethylolpropane (TMP). The new version is called 3.6.

    3.4 ⇛ 3.5: Prolongation of validity of the criteria

    The criteria have been prolonged with 24 months and is valid until the 31 June 2023. The new version is called 3.5.

    3.3 ⇛ 3.4: Prolongation and adjustment of criteria

    The criteria have been prolonged with 18 months and is valid until the 31 June 2021. At the same time requirement O6 was adjusted regarding formaldehyde releasing substances and requirement O23 was removed. The new version is called 3.4.

    3.2 ⇛ 3.3: Adjustment of criteria

    Requirement O3, Classification of ingoing chemical substances, has been adjusted. The new version is called 3.3.

    3.1 ⇛ 3.2: Adjustment of criteria

    A change has been made to requirement O7, Residual monomers in polymers in the criteria for chemical building products. The new version is called 3.2.

    3.0 ⇛ 3.1: Adjustment of criteria

    Exemptions have been introduced in requirements O3 and O12. The new version, 3.1, is valid until December 31st 2019.

    3.0: New criteria generation

    The criteria for Nordic Ecolabelled paints and varnishes were published on November 15th, 2015. Version 3.0 of the criteria is valid until December 31st, 2019.

Hamid Ahmadi Advisor +46 (0)8 55 55 24 28 hamid.ahmadi@svanen.se