WHAT'S NEW

July 1, 2011: Recast of the RoHS Directive (RoHS2) is published in the EU Official Journal.  The new conformity assessment and technical documentation requirements and revised scope take effect on January 2, 2013. For additional information on the changes introduced by RoHS2 please click here.

 

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.

 

June 20, 2011: Canada Consumer Product Safety Act comes into affect. 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.

 

May 25-27, 2011:  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.

 

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.

 

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.


Archives 2010
Archives 2009
Archives 2008
Archives 2007
Archives 2006