Technical

The Technical Committee’s work is twofold. On the one hand it is the “watchdog” for any threats to vending coming from the EU Commission and on the other its target is to produce guidelines and protocols to better assist operators in implementing EU Legislation. The Technical Committee also meets and exchanges technical questions and information with national member associations. It coordinates work on issues such as: energy consumption, temperature measurements or CE Marking. The Technical Committee promotes the vending industry’s interest with the EU Commission, other relevant standardisation bodies such as the CEN and CENELEC and any other stakeholder.

The position paper on HFC gas R-123a has now been released. Please click here to be redirected to the EVA's position paper webpage.

The Technical Committee brings together machine and parts manufacturers, payment systems manufacturers, as well as operators.  Its scope is wide and varied. The subjects for discussion range from machine point of view to environmental impact, without forgoing test protocols and standards.

With regard to EU Legislation, vending relates to “New Approach Directives” namely, the Machine Safety Directive, the Low Voltage Directive, the Electro Magnetic Compatibility Directive, in other words all Directives that must be complied with by machine manufacturers, for example, which have direct impact on vending.

In order to best illustrate how to implement complex legislation, the Technical Committee produces guidelines for the vending operator. The aim is to provide clear guidance on the obligations for vending operators deriving from EU Legislation.

The environmental aspect, in particular electronic waste and eco-efficiency, is also high on the work programme of the Technical Committee as requested by the EU political agenda. In the case of the WEEE Directive (Waste of Electric and Electronic Equipment) and the RoHS Directive (Restriction of Hazardous Substances), the Technical Committee successfully lobbied to alleviate the heavy financial burdens for machine manufacturers to separate B2B from consumer goods.

The Technical Committee also plays the part of monitoring implementation of EU legislation in Member States, such as the WEEE Directive, and informs EVA members accordingly. When discrepancies between implementation measures in different countries occur, the Technical Committee informs members and the need is evaluated  in order to make adequate representations both to national and EU authorities. 

The EVA has issued its position on the WEEE Directive. Please click here to be redirected to the EVA’s position papers webpage.

The issue of Eco-efficiency has gathered pace in recent months, further to the adoption of the EuP (Energy Using Products) Directive and as a result has become a priority for the Technical Committee. Under its leadership, the EVA has established links with the body designated by the European Commission to produce the detailed requirements for refrigerated machines.  This body has officially recognized the EVA as its interlocutor for the vending industry and the EVA-EMP (Energy-Measurement Protocol) as a tool to measure energy consumption in vending machines.
The EVA-EMP is a test protocol that describes a uniform and objective method to measure the energy consumption of vending machines. The results of these energy consumption measurements can then be reproduced and compared. The EVA-EMP was updated in 2006 taking into account all food and drink machines.  Energy consumption was measured for all machines in stand-by and vend situation.

The Technical Committee organises joint Technical meetings with other national association members on a regular basis and events to exchange useful information on technical standards and/or protocols. Two technical forums were organised, respectively in 1999 and 2006 by the EVA Technical Committee in order to present the committee’s work programme, gather views and suggestions, and further strengthen the working relations with present stakeholders and partners.

The Technical Committee also links the industry to the European Standardisation bodies, CEN and CENELEC in order to monitor and, where necessary, to contribute to the drafting of standards that may have an impact on vending  

EVA Protocols and standards to be downloaded free of charge.