The Regulation (EU) 2019/1148 lays down harmonised rules concerning the making available, introduction, possession and use of substances or mixtures that could be improperly used for the illicit manufacture of explosives, with the purpose of limiting the availability of such substances or mixtures for individuals and for the purpose of ensuring the appropriate reporting of suspicious transactions throughout the supply chain. The regulation applies from 1 February 2021.

The explosives precursors subject to restrictions are not placed at the disposal of private individuals, nor introduced by them, held or used.

A member State may maintain or establish a licensing system that would allow the provision of the private sector, or the introduction, possession or use of certain explosives precursors which are subject to restrictions in concentrations not in excess of the limit values corresponding to the column 3 of the table in annex I.

In the context of such schemes of license, a private gain and, if required, has a license to purchase, the introduction, possession or use of explosives precursors which are subject to restrictions. Such licenses are issued in accordance with article 6 by a competent authority of the member State in which the precursor of explosives subject to the restrictions is intended to be purchased, introduced, held or used.

Information supply chain

An economic operator who makes available to another economic operator, a precursor of explosives subject to restrictions shall inform the latter by the economic operator that the acquisition, introduction, possession or use of a precursor of explosives subject to restrictions in question by private parties are subject to a restriction.

An economic operator who makes available to another economic operator, a precursor of explosives governed informs the latter is the economic operator that the acquisition, introduction, possession or use of a precursor of explosives, regulated by private parties are subject to the reporting obligation.

An economic operator who makes available to a professional user or a private explosives precursors covered warrants and is able to demonstrate to national authorities in charge of the inspections referred to in article 11 that the staff involved in the sale of explosives precursors covered is:

  • aware of the products that offers contain explosives precursors covered;
  • instructed in regard to the obligations referred to in articles 5 to 9.

Verification at the time of sale

An economic operator who makes available to a private-a precursor of explosives subject to restrictions in accordance with article 5, paragraph 3, verification, for each transaction, the document certifying the identity, and the license of such licensed private in accordance with the licensing system established by the member State the precursor of explosives subject to restrictions shall be placed at the disposal and records the amount of the precursor of explosives subject to license restrictions.

In order to verify that a potential customer is a professional user or another economic operatorthe economic operator who makes available to a professional user or another economic operator, a precursor of explosives subject to restrictions requires, for each transaction requestthe following information, unless the verification in relation to the potential customer has not already been done in the span of a year prior to the date of such transaction, and the transaction does not deviate significantly from the previous transactions:

  • a document certifying the identity of the person authorised to represent the prospective client;
  • the trade, business or profession of the potential client, together with, if applicable, company name, address, and identification number the value added tax or any other relevant number of registration of the company;
  • the intended use of explosives precursors which are subject to restrictions on the part of the potential customer.

For the purposes of the verification of the intended use of the precursor of explosives subject to restrictions, the economic operator to evaluate whether the intended use is compatible with the trade, business or profession of the potential customer. The economic operator may reject the transaction if it has reasonable grounds to doubt the legitimacy of the intended use, or for the intention of a potential customer to use the precursor of explosives subject to restrictions for legitimate purposes. The economic operator to report such transactions or that such attempts of the transaction in accordance with article 9.
For the purposes of verifying compliance with this regulation and the prevention and detection of illicit manufacture of explosives, economic operators shall retain the information referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 for 18 months from the date of the transaction. During this period, the information shall be made available for inspection, at the request of the authorities in charge or national law enforcement authorities.

Source: Regulation (EU) 2019/1148 on EUR-Lex.