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EU – Seven RoHS Exemption Renewals are Published

The seven EU RoHS exemption renewals that the European Commission posted in March for Parliamentary scrutiny were formally published in the European journal on May 18th. The exemptions include: 6a, 6b, 6c, 7a, 7c-I, 24, and 34. The Commission has provided a transition period of just over a year, with the new exemptions coming into effect on July 1, 2019.

The new exemptions are excerpted in Table 1.

Table 1: RoHS Exemption Renewals Adopted

Exemption IndexExemption descriptionScope and dates of applicabilityStatus
6(a)Lead as an alloying element in steel for machining purposes and in galvanised steel containing up to 0.35 % lead by weightExpires on:
− 21 July 2021 for categories 8 and 9 other than in vitro diagnostic medical devices and industrial monitoring and control instruments;
− 21 July 2023 for category 8 in vitro diagnostic medical devices;
− 21 July 2024 for category 9 industrial monitoring and control instruments, and for category 11.		Published
6(a)-ILead as an alloying element in steel for machining purposes containing up to 0.35% lead by weight and in batch hot dip galvanised steel components containing up to 0.2% lead by weightExpires on 21 July 2021 for categories 1-7 and 10.Published
6(b)Lead as an alloying element in aluminium containing up to 0,4 % lead by weightExpires on:
− 21 July 2021 for categories 8 and 9 other than in vitro diagnostic medical devices and industrial monitoring and control instruments;
− 21 July 2023 for category 8 in vitro diagnostic medical devices;
− 21 July 2024 for category 9 industrial monitoring and control instruments, and for category 11.		Published
6(b)-ILead as an alloying element in aluminium containing up to 0,4 % lead by weight, provided it stems from lead-bearing aluminium scrap recyclingExpires on 21 July 2021 for categories 1-7 and 10.Published
6(b)-IILead as an alloying element in aluminium for machining purposes with a lead content up to 0,4 % by weightExpires on 18 May 2021 for categories 1-7 and 10.Published
6(c)Copper alloy containing up to 4 % lead by weightExpires on:
− 21 July 2021 for categories 1-7 and 10;
− 21 July 2021 for categories 8 and 9 other than in vitro diagnostic medical devices and industrial monitoring and control instruments;
− 21 July 2023 for category 8 in vitro diagnostic medical devices;
− 21 July 2024 for category 9 industrial monitoring and control instruments, and for category 11.		Published
7(a)Lead in high melting temperature type solders (i.e. lead-based alloys containing 85 % by weight or more lead)Applies to categories 1-7 and 10 (except applications covered by point 24 of this Annex) and expires on 21 July 2021.
For categories 8 and 9 other than in vitro diagnostic medical devices and industrial monitoring and control instruments expires on 21 July 2021.
For category 8 in vitro diagnostic medical devices expires on 21 July 2023.
For category 9 industrial monitoring and control instruments, and for category 11 expires on 21 July 2024.		Published
7(c)-IElectrical and electronic components containing lead in a glass or ceramic other than dielectric ceramic in capacitors, e.g. piezoelectronic devices, or in a glass or ceramic matrix compoundApplies to categories 1-7 and 10 (except applications covered under point 34) and expires on 21 July 2021.
For categories 8 and 9 other than in vitro diagnostic medical devices and industrial monitoring and control instruments expires on 21 July 2021.
For category 8 in vitro diagnostic medical devices expires on 21 July 2023.
For category 9 industrial monitoring and control instruments, and for category 11 expires on 21 July 2024.		Published
24Lead in solders for the soldering to machined through hole discoidal and planar array ceramic multilayer capacitorsApplies to all categories; expires on:
− 21 July 2021 for categories 1-7 and 10;
− 21 July 2021 for categories 8 and 9 other than in vitro diagnostic medical devices and industrial monitoring and control instruments;
− 21 July 2023 for category 8 in vitro diagnostic medical devices;
− 21 July 2024 for category 9 industrial monitoring and control instruments, and for category 11.		Published
34Lead in cermet-based trimmer potentiometer elementsApplies to all categories; expires on:
− 21 July 2021 for categories 1-7 and 10;
− 21 July 2021 for categories 8 and 9 other than in vitro diagnostic medical devices and industrial monitoring and control instruments;
− 21 July 2023 for category 8 in vitro diagnostic medical devices;
− 21 July 2024 for category 9 industrial monitoring and control instruments, and for category 11.		Published

Impact on EEE Manufacturers

Most of the exemptions are renewed for the full five years for product categories 1-7 and 10 (starting with the original expiry date of July 21, 2016 until July 21, 2021) with a few exceptions:

  • Exemption 6a) lead in steel alloy has a reduced scope — the lead in batch hot dip galvanised steel components has been reduced to 0.2% by weight.
  • In exemption 6(b)-II, the use of lead in aluminium for machining purposes expires on 18 May 2021 (three years from the date of publication). The European Commission is signalling that it intends to sunset the use of lead in aluminum, except where the lead content comes from recycled aluminum scrap.

Note that for product categories 8 and 9, the original exemption wording remains in effect for the full seven years from when that product category came into scope of the RoHS substance restrictions. This is July 21, 2024 for industrial monitoring and control instruments.

EU – Member States Adopt New Measure on EU Waste Legislation

As part of the European initiatives on circular economy, the EU member states have approved a set of “ambitious measures” related to EU waste legislation.  The challenging (and disconcerting) part of this for manufacturers is that the new measures include a proposal for producers to notify ECHA about the presence of SVHCs in articles for the purpose of providing recyclers with information that they may use during recycling operations.  This (if implemented) will be a significant challenge to EEE manufacturers and especially SMEs.

Impact on Manufacturers

Although the overall measures have been approved by EU members states, the regulation is still several steps from being officially adopted and there are still many details to be worked out.  Industry groups have already provided strong feedback on the proposal.  ECD Compliance will continue to monitor for any concrete developments.

Reporting REACH SVHCs using the is Article Flag in IPC-1754 Declarations

The EU REACH regulation applies significant requirements on product manufacturers to identify substances of very high concern (SVHCs) listed on the REACH Candidate List that are present in their products. Following a European Court of Justice ruling, the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) published a guidance document clarifying that the threshold level for reporting the SVHC is 0.1% of the first article in a product and not the finished product (as suggested in earlier ECHA guidance documents).  In the REACH regulation, article is defined as “an object which during production is given a special shape, surface or design which determines its function to a greater degree than does its chemical composition.” According to the ECHA guidance, the first article is when a substance is applied such that an article is first created and not based on a complex object that is made up of individual parts that are themselves articles.

This creates challenges for product manufacturers and requires them to obtain additional information from their supply chain on whether a SVHC is present (above 0.1%) in the first article of which it is a constituent.  For compliance assessment, a key piece of information needed by downstream manufacturers is the mass percent of a SVHC in its first article.

To provide this information in a material declaration, the substance and mass relative to the first article needs to be provided.  The challenge is how to communicate this within a material declaration.

How does IPC-1754 support REACH SVHC assessment

The IPC-1754 declaration standard supports this information requirement by allowing materials and subproducts to be reported in the declaration. The data exchange format also provides an (isArticle) flag for materials, subproducts, and the product so that the supplier can identify any object in the declaration as to whether or not it is an article.  This may be either a material (that meets the defn of article) or a subproduct.

How to determine if the mass percent of a substance is above 0.1% of the article

When a substance is reported in a declaration it includes mass information – this may be either the mass of the substance or a mass percent (the mass of the substance divided by the mass of the material or subproduct (or product) that the substance is assigned to in the declaration hierarchy).  However, the recipient of the declaration may not know enough about the manufacturing of the product (or its parts) to identify the first article. It’s best if the supplier identifies this first article and passes sufficient information down the manufacturing chain for downstream manufacturers to assess compliance requirements.  For the recipient to be able to determine the mass percent of the SVHC in the first article, the supplier needs to include the first article as an object in the declaration (this could be a material, subproduct or the product) and it needs to be identified as an article.

Examples of a single SVHC in the product

Figure 1 illustrates a simple declaration hierarchy of an SVHC (S1) that is included in a material (M1) which is included in part (P1) (which is the first article). Material M1 is identified as not an article (isArticle=False) and subproduct P1 is identified as the first article (isArticle=True) therefore the recipient is able to calculate that the mass percent of S1 in the first article (P1) is 0.2g / 10g = 2% (which is above the 0.1% threshold that triggers the REACH communication requirements). The top-level product is a higher level article (may be referred to as a complex object) and therefore also has isArticle=True.

There are instances where a material may have a specific shape and meets the definition of an article (see second example in Figure 2). In this case, the isArticle flag for material M1 is set to True and the SVHC mass percent in an article is 0.2g / 1.0g = 20%.

Figure 1: Simple example of a declaration with an SVHC in an article (subproduct)

Figure 2: Example with a material that is an article

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In both of these examples, the SVHC content is above 0.1% triggering REACH communication obligations, but there are cases where only a small amount of the SVHC is present and the selection of the first article will impact whether or not the SVHC is present above or below this threshold.  It’s up to the supplier that first incorporates an SVHC into an article to identify this to downstream manufacturers

When there are multiple SVHCs added at different stages of Manufacturing

There may also be products that include more than one SVHC. In some cases, the SVHCs may be applied at different stages during manufacturing, resulting in a complicated declaration hierarchy. One such example is illustrated in Figure 3.

  • The substance S1 (an SVHC) is included in a plating material (M1) which is applied to a lead frame (SP1) which then becomes a plated lead frame (SP2).
    • SP2 is the first article that includes S1, therefore the mass % of S1 in an article is the (mass of S1) / (mass of SP2).
    • If this mass % is above 0.1%, then S1 has REACH obligations.
  • The substance S2 (another SVHC) is a constituent of die attach material that is applied to the die (SP3) and the plated lead frame (SP2) to become the die assembly (SP4).
    • In this case, SP4 is the first article for substance S2 and is used as the basis of the mass % calculation to compare to 0.1%.
  • Overall, in this declaration hierarchy of the IC, subproducts SP4 and SP2 are both first articles for different SVHCs, which creates a complex declaration.

For the recipient of a declaration to properly assess REACH obligations, it’s necessary for the supplier to declare the material or subproduct (or product) that is the first article and identify that it as an article (by using the isArticle flag).

Note: in some cases (for simple products), the product may be the first article (e.g. the product provided by a supplier may be a single piece of molded plastic) or the product may be a mixture (e.g. wet paint) and there is no article.

China – Publishes First Batch of EEE Products for RoHS Restrictions

The China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has published MIIT Notice No. 15 2018 dated 15 March with ”1st Compliance Management Catalogue of Electric Appliances and Electronic Products for Restriction Use Hazardous Substances” and ”Applications Exempted from the Restriction in Product Compliance Management Catalogue” for China RoHS 2. The substance restrictions come into effect on March 15, 2019.

IEEE 1680.1 – Environmental Assessment of Computers, Tablets and Monitors

The revised standard for the environment assessment of computer, tablets and monitors (IEEE 1680.1-2018) was officially published on March 19, 2018.  The standard is used by the EPEAT(tm) ecolabel program[1] to recognize products that meet specific environmental and social responsibility requirements. Product manufacturers are now assessing their products and corporate programs and adjusting where necessary to meet the requirements specified in the revised standard. The Green Electronics Council (who operates the EPEAT program) has said that the new requirements will need to be met by November 2018 for products to remain registered in the EPEAT system.

The EPEAT ecolabel is used by many governments (including US and Canadian federal governments) and other organizations for IT purchasing. It influences significant annual computer, monitor, and tablet purchasing.

The requirements in the standard are organized into “criteria” which may impose requirements on the product (product criteria) or on the manufacturer (corporate criteria) and the criteria may be either “required” or “optional”.  All required criteria must be met; optional criteria count towards qualifying for a silver or gold rating.  The criteria are grouped into the following categories:

  • Substance management
  • Materials selection
  • Design for end of life
  • Product longevity/life-cycle extension
  • Energy conservation
  • End-of-life management
  • Packaging
  • Life cycle assessment and carbon footprint
  • Corporate environmental performance
  • Corporate social responsibility

Some of the major changes in the revised standard include the addition of corporate social responsibility requirements and requirements associated with the suppliers to the finished product manufacturers.

A complete list of all criteria in the revised IEEE 1680.1-2018 standard is provided in Annex 2.

The standard may be purchased on the IEEE standards store[2].

ECD Compliance can assist manufacturers with implementation of the requirements in the standard or with a audit.

[1] EPEAT, https://www.epeat.net/

[2] IEEE webstore, https://www.techstreet.com/ieee/standards/ieee-1680-1-2018?product_id=1999671

Canada – Proposes Amendments to Mercury Regulation

On February 1, 2018, Environment and Climate Change Canada opened a public consultation on proposed changes to the Products Containing Mercury Regulations.

The amendments are organized into nine sub-sections 3.1 through 3.9 as shown in Table 3. The public consultation is open until April 2, 2018.  The “Consultation document: Proposed amendments to the Products Containing Mercury Regulations” is available on the Environment Canada website[1].

Table 3: Amendments to the Canadian Mercury Regulation

TitleSummary of Changes
3.1 Alignment with the requirements under the Minamata ConventionReduced levels of mercury in exemptions for fluorescent lamp to comply with Minamata convention
3.2 Amendments to further align with initiatives abroadAlignment of exemptions for mercury in lamps with EU RoHS Directive

Removal of exemption for mercury in compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) by 2023 (this will essentially ban CFLs from sale in Canada)
3.3 Amendments to the automobile headlamps exemption (item 9 of the schedule)Removal of exemption of mercury in automobile headlamps by 2024
3.4 Amendments to the non-applications (section 2 of the regulations)Clarification that pest control lamps are included in the restrictions

Exclusion of import of products for own personal use
3.5 Adjustments to certain elements of the labelling requirements (sections 8 and 9 of the regulations)Clarification to labelling requirements, including

- use of both official languages
- Hg symbol
- New requirement to identify component containing mercury
3.6 Amendments to testing requirements to broaden the accreditation bodies recognized under the regulations (section 10 of the regulations)Broaden accreditation bodies for test laboratories
3.7 Amendments to the reporting requirements (section 12 of the regulations)Changes to reporting requirements with Canadian address and export quantity
3.8 Amendments to the record keeping requirements (sections 14 to 16 of the regulations)New requirements for record keeping to track quantity of products exported and to allow electronic records
3.9 Adjustments to clarify certain exemptions in the schedule of the regulationsClarification of exemptions for lab test reference materials and replacement parts.

[1] Proposed amendments to mercury regulation, https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/canadian-environmental-protection-act-registry/products-mercury-regulations-proposed-amendments.html

EU – Results of ECHA Enforcement Project

The report on the REF-4 ECHA Enforcement project on restrictions was posted on the ECHA website[1].  The enforcement was conducted by inspectors in 27 European countries on 5,625 products, including 4,599 articles.  Overall, 18% of the products were found to not comply with substance restrictions.

The substances that were most frequently found in products above allowed thresholds were phthalates, cadmium, asbestos fibres, Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and hexavalent chromium.   Although EEE products were not specifically targeted in this enforcement project, the results indicate that there is still a significant non-compliance in the EU to substance restrictions and that authorities feel that additional actions need to be taken to reduce non-compliance

Recommendations arising from the project included:

  • A need for more enforcement targeting high-risk areas;
  • A need for companies to perform more due diligence in conformity assurance, especially analytical testing;
  • Organize national and EU-wide campaigns to raise awareness of the restrictions

Increased awareness of the issues in the EU could lead to importers and distributors requesting more information from product manufacturers.

The report provided a series of recommendations to companies, including the following excerpt:

Companies placing chemicals or articles on the market that may contain substances restricted in REACH Annex XVII should pay a lot of attention to making sure that they know their products and their own suppliers. This may also need proactive testing of the products and agreements between suppliers to ensure that the chemical composition of the products in the supply chain is in accordance with the chemicals legislation.

[1] REACH Enforcement Project, https://echa.europa.eu/documents/10162/13577/ref_4_report_en.pdf/b53f5cd9-64a4-c120-1953-e9e176b9c282

Sweden – Reports 16 Electronics Importers for Prosecution

Following an enforcement review of 19 importers (mostly of electronics products), the Swedish Chemicals Agency (KEMI) has reported 16 of the companies to prosecutors due to violations of hazardous chemicals in products.

KEMI checked a total of 261 products of which 23% were found to contain at least one restricted substance above threshold. In a press release[1], they stated that the most common non-compliance was the use of lead in solder in electronics. The second most common violation was the use of SCCP (short-chain chlorinated paraffins) in plastics. KEMI also expressed concern that manufacturers and importers may not be putting enough priority and effort into compliance to substance restrictions.

[1] KEMI press release (in Swedish), http://news.cision.com/se/kemikalieinspektionen/r/kemikalieinspektionen-har-anmalt-16-foretag-till-aklagare,c2449637

EU – Seven Substances Added to REACH Candidate List

In late December the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) announced that the Member State Committee approved seven substances of very high concern (SVHC) for addition to the REACH Candidate List and an update to the bisphenol A (BPA) entry as an Endocrine Disruptor. ECHA also indicated that the Candidate List update would be delayed from December to mid-January.

The Candidate List was subsequently updated on January 15, 2018. The new SVHCs and examples of EEE applications (identified by the IEC 62474 validation team) are listed in Table 1.

Table 1: SVHCs Added to REACH Candidate List (January 2018)

Substance NameDescriptionCAS no.Examples of EEE Applications
Benz[a]anthracene56-55-3, 1718-53-2Impurities in carbon black, which is used as coloring agent in plastics and softener in rubbers
Cadmium carbonate513-78-0n/a
Cadmium hydroxide21041-95-2It is generated in the anodes of nickel-cadmium and silver-cadmium batteries during the discharge
Cadmium nitrate10022-68-1, 10325-94-7n/a
Chrysene218-01-9, 1719-03-5Impurities in carbon black, which is used as coloring agent in plastics and softener in rubbers
Dodecachloropentacyclo [12.2.1.16,9.02,13.05,10] octadeca-7,15-diene (“Dechlorane Plus”™)covering any of its individual anti- and syn-isomers or any combination thereof-Flame retardant for electric wire and cable covering material
Reaction products of 1,3,4-thiadiazolidine-2,5-dithione, formaldehyde and 4-heptylphenol, branched and linear (RP-HP)with ≥0.1% w/w 4-heptylphenol, branched and linear (4-HPbl)-n/a

Impact on EEE Manufacturers

Manufacturers, importers and distributors have immediate REACH Article 33 obligations to disclose information about any of these SVHCs in their products if above the threshold of 0.1% in an article. Four of the SVHCs are considered to be possible constituents of EEE products (as indicated in the table).

The other three SVHCs are unlikely to be present.  They are unintentional by-products of manufacturing and/or use. The Cadmium hydroxide would only be present above 0.1% if the product contains a certain type of battery which has gone through multiple charge-discharge cycles.

EU – Germany and Sweden Propose Restriction on Fluorinated Substances

German and Swedish agencies have submitted a joint proposal to ECHA to restrict six “per- and polyfluorinated substances” (PFASs) before they see wide-spread use as alternatives to other fluorinated substances such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) that have broad upcoming restrictions.

The proposal directly concerns perfluoronic acid (PFNA), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), Perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnDA), perfluorododecanoic acid (PFDoDA), perfluoroethridecanoic acid (PFTrDA) and perfluorotetradecanoic acid (PFTeDA). However, several other fluorinated materials are also affected because they can break down to create one of these six substances. KEMI, the Swedish Chemicals Agency, estimates that the ban would affect a total of 200 highly fluorinated substances.

The proposal is available on the ECHA website in the section on “Submitted restrictions under consideration”[1]. The proposed scope of the restriction, as listed on the website, is:

  1. Shall not be manufactured, used or placed on the market
  • as substances,
  • as constituents of other substances,
  • in a mixture
  1.   Articles or any parts thereof containing one of the substances shall not be placed on the market.

The proposal is currently open to public consultation until June 20, 2018.

[1] EU PFAS restriction proposal, https://echa.europa.eu/restrictions-under-consideration/-/substance-rev/18115/term