What is the RoHS Directive? RoHS Directive Review

Overview

According to the RoHS Directive, from July 1, 2006, all electrical and electronic equipment sold in the EU market must prohibit the use of heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and smoldering agents such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) and polybrominated biphenyls (PBB).

Scope of application

The 27 member states of the European Union: Britain (left the EU in 2016), France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Cyprus, Hungary, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, and Romania.

The RoHS directive controls product types, covering the electronic and electrical products listed in the catalog below AC1000V and DC1500V:

Large household appliances; small household appliances; IT and communication equipment; consumer electronic and electrical equipment; lighting equipment; electronic and electrical tools (except large fixed industrial tools); toys, leisure and sports equipment; vending machines; semiconductor devices.

It not only includes the whole machine product, but also includes the parts, raw materials and packaging used to produce the whole machine, and is related to the entire production chain.

Certification bodies

Any third-party notarization laboratory with the corresponding qualifications and capabilities can provide similar services to enterprises.

Purpose

First, establish technical barriers to raise the threshold for product entry

Second, strengthen environmental protection and ensure sustainable development

Countries around the world, especially developed countries, pay close attention to the introduction of the RoHS Directive. Some call it a green environmental protection directive, some call it a technical barrier directive, and some call it a directive that affects the nerves of the global manufacturing industry.

RoHS Certification

If your products are not RoHS certified, it will cause immeasurable damage to the manufacturers. Your products will then be ignored and you will lose the market. If your products are lucky enough to enter the other party's market, once they are discovered, you will be subject to high fines or even criminal detention, which may lead to the closure of the entire enterprise.

develop

On July 1, 2011, the European Parliament and the Council published Directive 2011/65/EU (ROHS 2.0) in the Official Journal of the European Union to replace 2002/95/EC (ROHS 1.0). The new directive will come into effect 20 days later (i.e. July 21, 2011).

On June 4, 2015, the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ) published the RoHS2.0 revised Directive (EU) 2015/863, which officially included DEHP, BBP, DBP and DIBP in the list of restricted substances in Appendix II.

In China

China is a global manufacturing powerhouse and a major exporter of products. More than 70% of its total exports involve the RoHS directive. Therefore, the Chinese government also attaches great importance to related issues and officially promulgated the "Measures for the Prevention and Control of Pollution from Electronic Information Products" on February 28, 2006, which came into effect on March 1, 2007. Simply put, it is a toxic and hazardous substance test.

References

• 1. How much do you know about the ROHS directive? : Zhihu [reference date 2019-12-22T16:00:00.000Z]