February 2009
U.S. Mission to the EU WEEE/RoHS Update
RoHS
Second RoHS Webinar:
There will be a second Department of Commerce webinar on the
proposed revision of the RoHS Directive on February 12, 2009.
Click here
to register. The fee for the webinar is $50.
WEEE/RoHS Update Webinar
February 12, 2009
Time: 11 a.m. Eastern Time (90 mins)
Program:
11:00 - 11:05 Welcome and Introduction by
Chris Sherwood, WEEE & RoHS Specialist at the Commercial
Service in the U.S. Mission to the EU
11:05 - 11:20 Putting the proposals in context (presentation by
Chris Sherwood)
- the process
- the timing
- the institutions
- the challenges and opportunities
11:20 - 11:45 What is being proposed? (presentation by Dr. Paul
Goodman of ERA Technology)
- key elements of the proposals
- what is not proposed
- implications for business compliance
11:45 - 12:25 Q&A (with Chris Sherwood and Paul
Goodman)
12:25 - 12:30 close
Value Added:
1. Separate myth from fact
2. Get early warning of possible changes
3. Understand the time line
4. Get answers to your questions from Brussels-based business and
regulatory experts
Warning: Potentially Misleading Public Consultation on
Exemptions
A public consultation was recently launched by the Öko-Institut,
which is under contract with the European Commission to examine
RoHS exemption requests as they arise. The document refers both
to the “ELV” (the End-of-Life Vehicles) and RoHS Directives. The
consultation in fact relates only to the ELV Directive, and not
the RoHS Directive. The mention of RoHS is there because the
organization’s contract covers exemptions under both pieces of
legislation. U.S. companies should be aware that there are
currently no RoHS exemptions being considered by the
Öko-Institut. The last batch of 5 requests was added in the
Öko-Institut’s report on all existing exemptions and will
probably be treated as part of that broader review.
WEEE
UpcomingWebinar
A webinar examining the proposed revision of the EU’s WEEE
Directive (as opposed to the RoHS Directive) will take place in
the next few weeks. Additional information will be posted
shortly. Alternatively, please visit the U.S. Commercial
Service Europe website: http://www.buyusa.gov/europe/team_events.html
January 2009
RoHS
Save the Date! Two Department of Commerce webinars
on the proposed revisions of the EU’s WEEE and RoHS Directives
will probably take place on January 12th and 15th, 2009, and will
focus on RoHS. Highlights will include explanations of the timing
of any new rules, an in-depth look at the proposed changes, and
Q&A with experts. Full details will be available shortly on
our web site.
Further webinars on WEEE and RoHS will be announced in the coming
weeks.
Exemptions: New exemptions, exemption repeal delayed until
2009
The European Commission has proposed six (6) new exemptions. In
addition, it has proposed to end the current exemption 22 (Lead
as impurity in RIG (rare earth iron garnet) Faraday rotators used
for fibre optic communications systems) from January 1st, 2010.
These proposals will be subject to a vote by EU countries in
January 2009, rather than the planned date of November 24th 2008.
This will be followed by a three-month period during which the
European Parliament may seek to amend the exemptions. The current
text of these proposals is:
"33. Lead in solders for the soldering of thin copper wires
of 100 μm diameter and less in power transformers.
34. Lead in cermet-based trimmer potentiometer
elements.
35. Cadmium in photoresistors for optocouplers applied in
professional audio equipment until 31 December
2009.
36. Mercury used as a cathode sputtering inhibitor in DC plasma
displays with a content up to 30 mg per display until 1 July
2010.
37. Lead in the plating layer of high voltage diodes on the basis
of a zinc borat glass body.
38. Cadmium and cadmium oxide in thick film pastes used on
aluminium bonded beryllium oxide."
and
"22. Lead as impurity in RIG (rare earth iron garnet) Faraday
rotators used for fibre optic communication systems until 31
December 2009."
Expert Report on Substances Published
The European Commission has now published the delayed expert
report on substances that are not currently regulated under the
RoHS Directive. The report, drawn up by consultancy Öko-Institut,
recommends consideration of restrictions on five substances.
These are:
Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBP-A)
Hexabromocyclo-dodecane (HBCDD)
Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)
Butylbenzylphthalate (BBP)
Dibutylphthalate (DBP)
It is important to note that the European Commission, in its
recent proposals for a revision of the RoHS Directive, has not
called for restrictions on any of these. Rather, for the last
four substances, it has proposed further scientific assessment
with a view to determining whether restrictions are appropriate.
And it has not called for any process to be initiated with a view
to possible restriction of TBBP-A. However, the publication of
this report is likely to lead to calls from some stakeholders for
restrictions on all five substances during the upcoming
legislative process. Further information is available on our web site.
December 2008
WEEE & RoHS
Impact of new RoHS and WEEE Directives on Manufacturers and
Importers
The Commission’s draft new RoHS and WEEE Directives published on
December 3rd 2008 will place increasing challenges on
manufacturers and importers. Industry will welcome the
Commission’s decision to drop its plans to ban TBBP-A (a flame
retardant used in over 90% of all circuit boards. However,
the RoHS compliance burden will increase considerably by
including RoHS within the CE marking regime and placing new
obligations on importers and distributors. There are also
concerns that the new policy on exemptions will limit innovation
in some sectors.
The Commission justifies its position that exemptions will only
be valid for 4 years and that industry will need to apply for any
renewals by stating that “the use of those substances in such
applications should become avoidable”. However, in many
industry sectors the physical or chemical properties of lead,
cadmium, mercury or other hazardous substances provide
significant technical advantages that far outweigh the
environmental impacts. Innovative new designs require
considerable investment and time to bring them to market.
Requiring all RoHS exemptions to be renewed every 4 years will
prevent these long term investments.
Under the CE marking regime, manufacturers will be required to
carry out internal production control procedures for RoHS
compliance in line with Module A of Annex II of 768/2008/EC and
provide an EC declaration of conformity. Importers will be
required to check that non-EU manufacturers have completed these
conformity assessment procedures and that the CE marked product
is accompanied by the required documents. Importers are
also required to mark the product with their brand and contact
address, or where that is not possible, to include these details
on the packaging or product documentation. Distributors are
required to check that importers have complied with these marking
requirements and are prohibited from selling products which they
have reason to believe are not RoHS compliant, including carrying
out product recalls if necessary.
The draft new WEEE Directive introduces several measures which
will simplify producer registration and reporting requirements
for manufacturers who sell products in multiple member states.
August 2008
U.S. Mission to the EU WEEE/RoHS Update:
WEEE & RoHS
Review: Draft Legislation Delayed
The European Commission has delayed its publication of draft
legislation reviewing the WEEE and RoHS Directives, planned for
September 2008. The drafts will not now be published until later
in 2008, with November and December more likely than October. You
will be informed immediately when these drafts become available,
and we plan to run a webinar for U.S. companies who want to learn
more about them when they come out. The WEEE review is likely to
contain proposals to harmonize national WEEE registration and
clarify legal responsibilities. The RoHS review is likely to
propose an extension to the scope of the products covered by
Directive, and may propose new substance restrictions.
RoHS
Exemptions: New Public Consultation
The European Commission’s contractor, Öko-Institut, has published
a public consultation on a new exemption request. Interested
parties are invited to contribute. The request is for an
exemption for:
“Lead in solders for the connection of very thin (<100 μm)
enamelled copper wires and for the connection of enameled clad
aluminium wires (CCAWs) with a copper layer smaller than 20
μm”
All details can be found at: http://rohs.exemptions.oeko.info/index.php?id=68
Archive
For previous updates on WEEE and RoHS, please visit our Archive section.