Compliance with EU Directives and Regulations

Nintendo of Europe ("Nintendo") and its products are in compliance with all applicable European Union directives and regulations. Many of those are aimed at environmental protection as well as consumer health and safety with respect to the manufacture, supply and use of Nintendo products. A brief summary of the key pieces of applicable EU legislation and Nintendo's compliance with them can be found detailed below.

Directive 2012/19/EU on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE Directive)

The WEEE Directive aims to encourage everyone to reuse and recycle electrical and electronic equipment. Under the WEEE Directive, producers are encouraged to design and produce equipment taking these considerations into account and are responsible for financing the management of waste from the electrical and electronic equipment that they put on the market. Nintendo takes these matters fully on board in the design of its products and it cooperates with authorised regional institutions to facilitate the proper collection, recovery, recycling, and environmentally sound disposal of electrical and electronic equipment.

Directive 2006/66/EC on Batteries and Accumulators and Waste Batteries and Accumulators and repealing Directive 91/157/EEC (Batteries Directive)

Like the WEEE Directive, the Batteries Directive aims to reduce the environmental impact of the manufacture, distribution, use, disposal and recycling of batteries and rechargeable batteries. In doing so, it forbids the supply of batteries and rechargeable batteries with certain hazardous metal content and sets out requirements for batteries' labelling, safe removal from appliances, collection and recycling. Batteries supplied in Nintendo products are fully compliant with these requirements and consumers can find information on how their batteries can be removed and recycled safely in their product manual. Nintendo cooperates fully with authorised regional institutions to facilitate the proper collection and environmentally sound recovery or disposal of its batteries.

Directive 94/62/EC on Packaging and Packaging Waste

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive is aimed at preventing the production of packaging waste and at encouraging packaging reuse and recycling. In complying with this Directive, Nintendo is involved in the European-wide Green Dot recycling program and uses the Green Dot symbol on the sales packaging of Nintendo products.

Directive 2011/65/EU on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS Directive)

Nintendo products are fully compliant with the RoHS Directive, and none of Nintendo's electrical and electronic equipment contains more than the legally accepted levels of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE).

Directive 2014/53/EU on Radio Equipment (RED)

Nintendo products conform to the Radio Equipment Directive and effectively use the radio frequency spectrum allocated to terrestrial/space radio communication so as to avoid harmful interference.

Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive 2014/30/EU (EMC Directive)

Electrical devices influence each other when they are interconnected or close to each other. The purpose of the EMC Directive is to keep these side effects under control. Nintendo submits its electrical and electronic products to testing to ensure that, when near other electrical and electronic products, they do not cause and are not duly affected by electromagnetic interference.

Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU (LVD)

Under the Low Voltage Directive, electrical equipment must be made so as to protect people, domestic animals and property from injury which could otherwise occur from electrical contact, and from hazards caused by external influences, such as mechanical dangers, chemical dangers or health risks caused by noise, vibrations or ergonomic factors. Nintendo complies with the Low Voltage Directive in the manufacture and testing of its products.

Directive 2009/125/EC establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy-related products (ErP Directive)

Nintendo's consoles are categorised as energy-related products under the ErP Directive. The ErP Directive does not itself impose any specific design or energy efficiency requirements but it sets a framework for the implementation of underlying measures applicable to specific product categories. Nintendo takes steps to ensure that, where applicable, its products will be compliant with the Standby/Off mode Regulation (1275/2008) and the External Power Supply Regulation (278/2009).

General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 (GPSR)

The GPSR sets a general safety requirement for all consumer products and imposes obligations on economic operators of consumer products to monitor the safety of their products and to take steps in the event they learn they have placed an unsafe product on the EU market. In so far as there are no specific provisions in any of the above-mentioned Directives governing a particular safety aspect of Nintendo's products, Nintendo always has regard to the general safety requirement imposed by the GPSR in the design, manufacture and supply of its products.

Retailers can also find information relevant to Article 19 of the GPSR here.

Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals (REACH)

Although other legislation continues to exist, REACH is now the main piece of legislation controlling the manufacture, importation and use of chemicals in the EU. REACH aims to improve the protection of human health and the environment and effectively gives greater responsibility to industry to manage the risks from chemicals. As Nintendo neither manufactures nor imports chemicals, it is not required to directly register under REACH. However, as a downstream user, Nintendo takes steps to ensure that all of its suppliers are REACH compliant as applicable. In addition to the registration and authorisation requirements, REACH contains complete restrictions on the use of certain substances, including phthalates, with which Nintendo products are fully compliant. For detailed information about substances contained in Nintendo products subject to Article 33 of REACH, see here.

CE Marking

CE marking is a requirement of certain European Directives categorised as "New Approach" Directives (which include many of those above). The CE mark is a declaration by the manufacturer that its product meets all the appropriate requirements of the applicable directive(s). Nintendo products bear the CE marking as evidence that Nintendo has taken the necessary steps to ensure that its products meet the relevant product requirements.