China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) clarified the specific mark to be applied by suppliers (e.g. manufacturers and importers) for China RoHS compliance when the self-declaration method is used. The information was provided in SAMR announcement No. 32 of 2019[1], issued on 2 July 2019. It indicates that the supplier compliance label to be used when companies use self-declaration is as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: China RoHS Compliance Mark for Self-Declaration

This is a change from what had been suggested by SAMR in their May 16^th publication of “Implementation Measures on a Conformity Assessment System for the Restricted Use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products”.

The Implementation Measures requires that companies choose either: Voluntary Certification; or Company Self-declaration and implement the conformity assessment requirements and apply the appropriate mark from November 1, 2019.

The vector image of the logo can be downloaded from the Green Product Identification Information Platform (www.chinagreenproduct.cn)

[1] SAMR announcement No 32 of 2019, http://gkml.samr.gov.cn/nsjg/rzjgs/201907/t20190703_303174.html

We occasionally distribute Information Bulletins with important regulatory or standards related information. The following information has just become available:

The European Chemical Agency (ECHA), on July 16, 2019 added four additional substances and substance groups to the EU REACH Candidate List. The new Substance of Very High Concern (SVHC) entries are listed in the table below. The IEC 62474 Validation Team has reviewed the substances for potential uses in EEE – SVHCs that are possible EEE constituents are shown with their typical EEE applications.  There is now a total of 201 SVHCs on the REACH Candidate List.

The IEC 62474 DSL will be updated later this week. TNPP will be added as the only SVHC that realistically could be a constituent of EEE above the threshold.

The full REACH Candidate List is available at: http://echa.europa.eu/candidate-list-table

The Swedish tax law (Act 2016:1067) on electronics containing flame retardants was revised by the Swedish Ministry of Finance to increase tax rates and update the products included within the scope of the law.  The law requires that a tax be paid on certain EEE products when they are placed on the market in Sweden; however, a tax reduction is available if the products can be shown to not contain bromine, chlorine or phosphorus.  Swedish Law 2019:489 amending the Tax on Chemicals in Certain Electronics Law 2016:1067 was published on June 26, 2019.

The law uses the Combined Nomenclature (CN) customs codes to determine which products are in scope.  Section 3 of the law, which sets out the products that must pay the tax, is updated and includes the CN codes shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Products included in scope of Swedish Tax Law (Act 2019:489)

For a taxable good referred to in categories 1–4, 6 or 7 of Table 1, the tax payable is increased from SEK 8 to SEK 11 per kilogram of the net weight of the taxable good (not exceeding SEK 440  per taxable good).

For a taxable good referred to in categories 5 or 8–13 of Table 1, the tax payable is increased from SEK 120 to SEK 160 per kilogram of the net weight of the taxable good (as above, up to a maximum tax of SEK 440 per taxable good).

An official list of taxable goods, along with their corresponding CN codes, can be found on the Swedish Tax Agency website[1]. The amendment enters into force on 1 August 2019.

[1] Swedish Act, https://www.svenskforfattningssamling.se/sites/default/files/sfs/2019-06/SFS2019-489.pdf

EEE Manufacturers are reminded that the phthalate restrictions for DEHP, DBP, BBP, and DIBP are in effect for any EEE products in RoHS categories 1-7, 10, and 11 that are placed on the market starting July 22, 2019.

The new EU RoHS requirements are applicable based on when individual product units are “placed on the market”.

Impact on EEE Manufacturers

Organizations that meet the definition of ‘Manufacturer’ under the EU RoHS Directive and have products that are in scope of the new phthalate restrictions should confirm that they are meeting all obligations listed under the EU ROHS Directive Article 7 (Obligations of manufacturers).  This includes updating the technical documentation to demonstrate that the four phthalate substances are not in the product above the 0.1 mass% of homogeneous material threshold.

Repair and return systems may also need to be updated to ensure that any RMA units shipped to customers in the EU either (1) meet the new substance restrictions, or (2) were previously been placed on the EU market before the new restrictions came into effect.

ECD Compliance can provide assistance with compliance to the new phthalate restrictions.

EEE products in category 11 (Other EEE) come into scope of EU RoHS and will need to meet all ten substance restrictions (including the phthalates) and other obligations specified in the EU RoHS Directive starting July 22, 2019.

For assistance with RoHS Compliance, contact ECD Compliance.

Ontario has proposed a new WEEE regulation that would make producers responsible for end of life collection and recycling.  This would replace the current Ontario WEEE regulation that requires consumers to pay an eco fee at the time of purchasing a product.  If adopted the Ontario regulation will be one of the most comprehensive WEEE regulations among all states and provinces in North America.

The definition of EEE is similar to that of EU WEEE and RoHS, applying to products that are “designed for use with an electric current and a voltage rating not exceeding 1000 volts for alternating current and 1500 volts for direct current”.  For purposes of WEEE responsibilities, EEE products are grouped into four categories:

1. 1. Information technology, telecommunications and audio visual equipment.
   2. Large equipment.
   3. Lighting.
   4. Small equipment.

Responsibilities of the producer include a free collection network for end of life products, achieving resource recovery targets, promotion and education to increase consumer awareness, and to register, report and keep records.

The proposed regulation specifies requirements that would significantly increase the number of collection sites.

Details on collection requirements are provided in the proposed regulation[1].

[1] Proposed Ontario WEEE regulation, https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-0048

China has clarified the requirements for demonstrating conformity to China RoHS 2 substance restrictions.  The restrictions came into effect on March 15, 2019 and the new conformity requirements will be enforced as of November 1, 2019.

Background

In March 2018, the China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) published the “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 were specified as coming into effect on March 15, 2019. However, the compliance requirements were noticeably missing, creating confusion about what manufacturers needed to do by March 2019.

Conformity Assessment System going Forward

The Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation published the Implementation Measures on a Conformity Assessment System for the Restricted Use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products on 16 May 2019:

Electrical and electronic products which are listed in the RoHS 2 Catalogue and manufactured or imported after 1 November 2019 must comply with the new conformity assessment requirements. This includes:

• • refrigerators
  • air conditioners
  • washing machines
  • electric water heaters
  • printers
  • copiers
  • fax machines
  • televisions
  • monitors
  • microcomputers
  • mobile communication devices
  • telephones

Companies may choose one of two methods to complete the conformity assessment:

• • Voluntary Certification for Restricted Use of Hazardous Substance in Electrical and Electronic
    
  • Company Self-declaration
    

A compliance label is attached to the product based on which conformity method is used. Information related to conformity assessment will be published by the manufacturer on the information platform set up by MIIT and the State Administration of Market Regulation

Additional Information on the Self-Declaration Approach

The procedure and requirements for self declaration are specified in Annex 2 of the Notice. They leverage the China Standard GB/T 36560 2018 (China national adoption of IEC 63000 on technical documentation with respect to the restriction of hazardous substances). Manufacturers or their authorized representative must also submit a supplier declaration of conformity (SDoC).

Overall, the China RoHS self declaration is similar to the EU RoHS conformity requirements (i.e. EU DoC, CE Mark, and technical documentation file). However, unlike EU RoHS, the SDoC and technical documentation file must be uploaded into a repository (referred to as the “public service platform”) within 30 days of placing the product on the China market.

Enforcement

The Notice (section 5.3) states that non-conformity of products will be made public.

Further Information

The conformity assessment Notice was jointly published by the China SAMR (State Administration of Market Regulations of P. R.C.) and MIIT (Ministry of Industry &Information Technology) as SAMR MIIT Notice No.23 2019.

The European CEN standards organization (EU version of ISO) has approved a new Technical Committee (TC462) on regulated chemicals in products.

Title: CEN/TC 462 ‘Regulated Chemicals in Products’

TC 462 was approved in March 2019. However, there concerns about conflicts with other International standards that are in use or under development.  The French National Body (AFNOR) will be the secretariat of the new TC.

The European Chemical Agency (ECHA) developed an updated specification on the upcoming SVHC in articles reporting database and circulated to a very limited set of stakeholders.  The document, titled “Detailed information requirements for the database on articles containing Candidate List substances under the Waste Framework Directive” is the next step in ECHA developing the database.   A very short 2 weeks were provided for comments in May 2019.

ECHA has retained most of the data fields that were in their original proposal, but many are now proposed as optional instead of mandatory. Industry pushed back on the original proposal arguing that the extensive data reporting was (1) not supported by requirements in the REACH regulation and the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) and (2) impractical to obtain for complex products with multi-level BOMs.  ECHA responded that the requirements specified in the regulations justify the data fields but have never-the-less acquiesced by making many of the fields optional.

However, the requirement to report the first articles containing SVHCs is retained in the proposal.  Furthermore, the database will require the manufacturers to report the “article category name and code” – the ‘code’ is described as being the Combined Nomenclature (CN) code that is used for customs purposes.  CN codes are based on the International Harmonized System (HS) and tend to be a bit of a mystery to everyone except import/export experts. Most manufacturers know the CN code for their products but may not know the CN/HS codes for articles buried deep in the BOM of a complex product.

To demonstrate the requirement, ECHA provides an example database submission for an imported car.  The example involves reporting a car as a complex object; that contains an engine as a complex object; and an O-ring containing an SVHC that is an article within the engine. In the example, the O-ring is identified with article code “4008 21 90: [4008: Plates, sheets, strip, rods and profile shapes, of vulcanised rubber other than hard rubber; – Of non-cellular rubber;] — Other”

Impact on EEE Manufacturers

Between the combination of (1) the European Court of Justice ruling that SVHC concentration is based on when it is first applied to an article and (2) the metal lead was added to the Candidate List, most complex EEE products are likely to contain at least one SVHC above the 0.1% threshold and possibly several SVHCs.  Therefore, the reporting requirements for the database, especially information about first articles containing an SVHC will be challenging for many EEE manufacturers. The information goes beyond the what OEMs typically collect from their suppliers.

ECD Compliance can assist manufacturers and solution providers to stay up to date on emerging developments on the database and to prepare supply chain management operations and IT systems for the SVHC in article reporting requirements.