Many questions on RoHS exemptions, including the important distinction between exclusions (e.g. Categories 8 & 9) and exemptions may be answered on our RoHS FAQ page.
Official Texts
Click here to see the EU's exemption decisions (official EU legislative texts).
Click here to see the European Court of Justice's judgment annulling the exemption for DecaBDE, with effect from July 1st 2008.
Full List of RoHS Exemptions
This list of exemptions takes all exemptions from each of
the EU official texts ("Commission Decisions") and
consolidates them into a single document.
Consolidated
Exemption List
Tracking Exemptions
The document below reflects the latest information available to
the Department of Commerce on the status of RoHS exemptions. DOC
is frequently seeking updates from the European Commission on
this matter. Please tell us if you have more up-to-date
information.
Exemption
Status Tracker
The table below contains details of all the RoHS exemptions consultations that have been or are being run by the European Commission
| Consultation No. | Requests | Closing Date | Submissions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Link | Jul 05, 2004 | Link |
| 2 | Link | Feb 11, 2005 | Link |
| 3 | Link | Oct 28, 2005 | Link |
| 4 | Link | Feb 10, 2006 | Link |
| 5 | Link | May 15, 2006 | Link |
| 6 | Link | Jan 10, 2007 | Link |
| 7 | Link | Aug 10, 2007 | Link |
| 8 | Link | Apr 01, 2008 | |
| 9 | Link | Jul 31, 2008 | |
| Full Review | All Exemptions + Open Requests | TBC - 2008 | Öko-Institut |
Each exemption request has been the subject of technical review according to Article 5 of the RoHS Directive (see our RoHS FAQ page). The consultancy that has done most of this work for the European Commission is Öko-Institut. The organization's report on exemptions, consisting of a main document and several annexes, is available on the European Commission's web site here.
Below please find an assessment of the 7th RoHS exemptions
consultation done by ERA Technology (independently of the European
Commission):
ERA Assessment
RoHS 7 (162KB)
Exemptions Review
The RoHS Directive specifies that exemptions must be reviewed at the latest four years after they are published. The European Commission is now working on this comprehensive review, examining all existing exemptions. Consultancy Öko-Institut has been retained to carry out a study on all existing RoHS exemptions, with a view to assessing the feasibility of repealing exemptions thanks to scientific and technical progress towards viable substitutes for the banned substances. The specifications for this study are available here. Öko-Institut has now issued an open call for input from industry about existing RoHS exemptions plus three new exemption requests. For contact with the contractor and more information on the study and the consultation, click here.
Öko-Institut hosted a series of technical stakeholder workshops on some of the existing exemptions in Brussels, from June 9th-13th.
The dates for the various workshops are:
Exemption 13 "Lead and cadmium in optical and filter glass": 9
June; 15:30 - 17:30
Exemptions 1-4 "Use of mercury in lamps": 10 June; 09:00 -
12:30
Exemptions 16-19 + 26 "Use of lead in lamps": 10 June; 14:30 -
17:30
Exemptions 20 and 25 "PbO in LCD, PDP and SED": 11 June; 09:00 -
11:30
Exemption 5 "Lead in glass of CRT": 11 June; 12:00 - 13:30
Exemption 8 "Cadmium as contact material": 11 June; 15:30 -
17:30
Exemptions 7a-c "Lead in solders": 12 June; 09:00 - 12:30
Exemption 6 "Lead in steel, aluminum and copper": 12 June; 14:30
- 16:30
NB Exemption 9a "DecaBDE": 13 June; 09:00 - 12:30
cancelled
The technical stakeholder workshop on exemption 9a (Deca-BDE) to be held on June 13th, 2008, in Brussels, was cancelled. It now appears unlikely that the European Commission will propose a new exemption for Deca-BDE.
Note that it is not clear whether the review of exemptions will be wrapped up into the legislative review of the RoHS Directive; it may be done separately through the existing exemptions procedure. For more information on the review of the RoHS Directive, click here.
Annulment of Deca-BDE Exemption
On April 1st, 2008, the European Court of Justice issued its judgment in a case challenging the legality of the RoHS exemption for DecaBDE, the brominated flame retardant. The judgment finds that the Commission adopted the exemption according to the wrong criteria and procedure, and annuls the exemption. It does not challenge the science behind the exemption, however. The court has allowed a 3-month transition period before DecaBDE to be phased out. According to the court and to the European Commission (which defended the exemption), EEE placed on the market as of July 1st 2008 may not contain DecaBDE. The full implications for national laws are not yet clear, and the Commission has not indicated what it intends to do vis-à-vis DecaBDE. The European Commission is open to industry comment on this issue.
Öko-Institut cancelled a technical stakeholder workshop on exemption 9a (Deca-BDE) on June 13th, 2008, in Brussels.
The U.S. Mission to the EU has been polling Department of Commerce offices in all EU Member States to gather information about how the ban on Deca-BDE will be enforced. If you are a U.S. company and have questions relating to enforcement of the ban in any particular country, we may be able to provide some relevant information. Feel free to contact us by email at: Brussels.EC.Office.Box@mail.doc.gov
Click here to see the European Court of Justice's judgment annulling the exemption for DecaBDE.
Repeal of Exemptions
Although one exemption (9a) has been annulled, none have yet been repealed. There is now a proposal for the repeal of exemption 22 ("Lead as impurity in RIG (rare earth iron garnet) Faraday rotators used for fibre optic communications systems.".
This is likely to be adopted along with a package of exemptions in Summer or Fall 2008. It will serve as an important precedent in particular for the way exemption repeals are implemented. The timings of EU and/or national repeals will be highly significant for any future repeals.
The European Commission is proposing a phase-out period of 6 months from adoption of the repeal.
Need More?
For futher information and assistance, click here.