Eko-Ozra

About »Eko-Ozra«

Zelena točka Eko-Ozra was founded in 2005 by 28 Croatian companies in order to take responsibility for packaging placed on the Croatian market by its founders. Eko-Ozra supposed to intermediate in between founders and other members on one side and packaging collectors, recyclers and sorters on the other side. Whole concept was planned on non-for profit and sustained development principles.

Situation in Croatia

However, Croatian State decided to proclaim itself owner of all the packaging waste and imposed its monopoly on the packaging recovery and it didn't / doesn't allow any parallel or competitive packaging waste management systems.

Since such a solution ignores ideas of voluntary agreement, it is, clearly, in violation of the EU directives regarding the packaging waste and it will have to be changed in the process of accession of Croatia to the European Union, but, right now, alternative schemes (including Green Dot packaging recovery scheme) in Croatia are not allowed.

Green Dot in Croatia

In 2006 (July) Eko-Ozra became an exclusive licensee for the Green Dot mark for the Republic of Croatia, primarily on behalf of its founders who wanted to regulate the Green Dot status and usage in Croatia.

Regardless the fact that Green Dot scheme in Croatia cannot function as a packaging recovery system, a fact remains that the Green Dot mark is registered trademark, that it belongs to someone and cannot be used, like any other trademark, without prior consent of it's owner.

Croatian legislation, namely Trademark Law, is expressly prohibiting such an unauthorized usage and provides remedies like the prevention of importing goods with the trademark or even temporary seizing of the goods with the trademark from such users.

Considering the principle of the placement of the product by which the Green Dot is governed, the Green Dot was used unauthorizedly by everyone in Croatia all along, and that had to be changed.

Croatian Market

Since Croatia is not a part of the European Union yet, and that it's market is still separate from the Common European Market, a user of the Green Dot mark in Croatia can be only a Croatian company: producer or importer of the product marked with the Mark. Reason being that only a Croatian company is allowed to put products on the Croatian market, and only a Croatian company can be responsible for those products before Croatian authorities.

That's in the line with the Trademark Law as well, which assumes producer's and importer's responsibility and liability. Same goes for Waste Law (which is not directly applied here, but it is good representative of the application of the same logic throughout Croatian legislation).

Since the Green Dot in Croatia is, de facto, in use for years there is general misconception among the users in Croatia that the Green Dot mark is free to use, or that its usage in Croatia is paid by someone else, somewhere else. Additionally, superficial and inaccurate explanations given by the State officials are creating additional confusion regarding the Green Dot status in Croatia, as well.

Eko-Ozra is systematically trying to contact all the users of the Mark in Croatia, explain the situation regarding the Green Dot, and ask them to adjust their operations accordingly; that they should either regulate their status as the user by signing sublicense contract or stop using the mark on the products they produce for or import to Croatian market.

In it's efforts, Eko-Ozra gained, as well, support from the Croatian Competition Agency which, on September 24th 2007, through it's Opinion dismissed claims that Eko-Ozra is in the breach of Competition regulations.

Obviously, since the Green Dot in Croatia is not allowed to be a packaging recovery system, there is no charge for the packaging recovery. Only fee which users are obligated to pay is the Green Dot mark usage fee which is a fixed annual fee, determined by the size of the company - user.

Green Dot Fees

In the categorization of the companies transparent and external criteria were used - Categorization of Croatian Chamber of Economy which classifies all Croatian companies on small, medium and large.

The Croatian Chamber of Economy Registrar can be found here.


English About Us Situation in Croatia Green Dot in Croatia Croatian Market Green Dot Fees		About »Eko-Ozra« Eko-Ozra was founded in 2005 by 28 Croatian companies in order to take responsibility for packaging placed on the Croatian market by its founders. Eko-Ozra supposed to intermediate in between founders and other members on one side and packaging collectors, recyclers and sorters on the other side. Whole concept was planned on non-for profit and sustained development principles. Situation in Croatia However, Croatian State decided to proclaim itself owner of all the packaging waste and imposed its monopoly on the packaging recovery and it didn't / doesn't allow any parallel or competitive packaging waste management systems. Since such a solution ignores ideas of voluntary agreement, it is, clearly, in violation of the EU directives regarding the packaging waste and it will have to be changed in the process of accession of Croatia to the European Union, but, right now, alternative schemes (including Green Dot packaging recovery scheme) in Croatia are not allowed. Green Dot in Croatia In 2006 (July) Eko-Ozra became an exclusive licensee for the Green Dot mark for the Republic of Croatia, primarily on behalf of its founders who wanted to regulate the Green Dot status and usage in Croatia. Regardless the fact that Green Dot scheme in Croatia cannot function as a packaging recovery system, a fact remains that the Green Dot mark is registered trademark, that it belongs to someone and cannot be used, like any other trademark, without prior consent of it's owner. Croatian legislation, namely Trademark Law, is expressly prohibiting such an unauthorized usage and provides remedies like the prevention of importing goods with the trademark or even temporary seizing of the goods with the trademark from such users. Considering the principle of the placement of the product by which the Green Dot is governed, the Green Dot was used unauthorizedly by everyone in Croatia all along, and that had to be changed. Croatian Market Since Croatia is not a part of the European Union yet, and that it's market is still separate from the Common European Market, a user of the Green Dot mark in Croatia can be only a Croatian company: producer or importer of the product marked with the Mark. Reason being that only a Croatian company is allowed to put products on the Croatian market, and only a Croatian company can be responsible for those products before Croatian authorities. That's in the line with the Trademark Law as well, which assumes producer's and importer's responsibility and liability. Same goes for Waste Law (which is not directly applied here, but it is good representative of the application of the same logic throughout Croatian legislation). Since the Green Dot in Croatia is, de facto, in use for years there is general misconception among the users in Croatia that the Green Dot mark is free to use, or that its usage in Croatia is paid by someone else, somewhere else. Additionally, superficial and inaccurate explanations given by the State officials are creating additional confusion regarding the Green Dot status in Croatia, as well. Eko-Ozra is systematically trying to contact all the users of the Mark in Croatia, explain the situation regarding the Green Dot, and ask them to adjust their operations accordingly; that they should either regulate their status as the user by signing sublicense contract or stop using the mark on the products they produce for or import to Croatian market. In it's efforts, Eko-Ozra gained, as well, support from the Croatian Competition Agency which, on September 24th 2007, through it's Opinion dismissed claims that Eko-Ozra is in the breach of Competition regulations. Obviously, since the Green Dot in Croatia is not allowed to be a packaging recovery system, there is no charge for the packaging recovery. Only fee which users are obligated to pay is the Green Dot mark usage fee which is a fixed annual fee, determined by the size of the company - user. Green Dot Fees In the categorization of the companies transparent and external criteria were used - Categorization of Croatian Chamber of Economy which classifies all Croatian companies on small, medium and large. The Croatian Chamber of Economy Registrar can be found here.

2005-2008 © Eko-Ozra d.o.o. Sva prava pridržana.