The Act provides broad obligations on manufacturers, importers and distributors to ensure that products are safe, preparation and maintenance of documents, and mandatory reporting of incidents.
Author Archives: ECD_admin
June 20, 2011: ECHA publishes 7 additional substance on SVHC candidate list.
The added substances are: 2-ethoxyethyl acetate, Strontium chromate, DHNUP, Hydrazine, 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, 1,2,3-trichloropropane, and DIHP. The candidate list now includes 53 substances.
May 27, 2011: EU Council of Ministers approves RoHS recast (RoHS-2)
The recast of the EU RoHS Directive had been delayed for the past several months due to legal concerns with the interpretation of some of the definitions in the proposal. The European Council of Ministers formally approved the current draft on May 27, 2011 and the European Parliament approved minor changes to the draft that they had approved last November. These approvals allows RoHS-2 to move forward to publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
May 25-27, 2011: Product carbon footprint (PCF) standards under development
IEC formally began work to develop carbon footprint standards for electrical & electronic products. The standards will specify product category rules enabling manufacturers to calculate carbon footprint of their products based on life cycle assessment (LCA). The need for standards is highlighted by the growing interest by governments and retailers in implementing carbon labeling programs (UK, France, Japan, and Korea to name a few). During the May workgroup meeting, a representative of the EU Commission presented aggressive timeframe for implementation of standards for the electronics industry.
March 2011: Canada developing restrictions on PBDEs in Products
During a presentation to the Canadian IT industry, representatives of Environment Canada stated that they preparing a regulation to restrict the manufacturing and import of products containing polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs).
March 10, 2011: JIG-101 Ed. 4 Materials Declaration
The JIG-101 “Material Composition Declaration for Electrotechnical Products” Ed. 4 passed ballot and was been published . The document represents an agreement by DigitalEurope, CEA (Consumer Electronics Association), and JGPSSI (Japan Green Procurement Survey Standardization Initiative) on substances that should be declared by companies in the electronics manufacturing supply chain. Ed. 4 adds three additional SVHC substances and adjusts the threshold levels of several other substances.
February 27, 2011: Europe requires Authorisation of Six SVHC substances
The European Union formally added six SVHC substances to Annex XIV of the regulation. The substances include the three phthalates (DEHP, BBP, and DBP), HBCDD, MDA, and musk xylene. The phthalates have been particularly heavily used in the electronics industry and is driving significant redesign efforts. Addition of these substances to Annex XIV is the final step in the SVHC process to drive elimination of the use of these substances in Europe.
February 26, 2011: Canada introduces framework for chemical restrictions on products
Environment Canada has officially proposed a regulation that would restrict mercury, mercury compounds, and other substances in products. The “Regulations Respecting Products Containing Certain Substances Listed in Schedule 1 to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999” is proposed to come into effect in 2012 and would initially impose restrictions, labeling requirements, reporting requirements and end-of-life management requirements on products containing mercury and mercury compounds. The proposal is a framework regulation that would allow additional substances to be restricted.
December 15, 2010: Europe adds eight substance to REACH SVHC Candidate List
The European Chemical Agency (ECHA) has official added 8 substances to the SVHC candidate list, imposing immediate obligations on industry to declare these substances (as per REACH article 33). The substances include: Cobalt(II) sulphate, Cobalt(II) dinitrate, Cobalt(II) carbonate, Cobalt(II) diacetate, 2-Methoxyethanol, 2-Ethoxyethanol, Chromium trioxide, and Chromic acid, Oligomers of chromic acid and dichromic acid, Dichromic acid.
October 21, 2010 – China
The Chinese government has submitted an updated RoHS (RoHS-2) regulation to the WTO/TBT (Technical Barriers to Trade) committee. The revised regulations would extend the scope of the regulation from “electronic information product” to “electrical and electronic product”. The wording for third party certification is modified slightly to “the electrical and electronic products listed in the Management Catalogue will be subject to certification according to the national certification system for the control of pollution caused by electrical and electronic product”.