The EU is expected to publish the RoHS Amendment Directive in 2011
The European Commission published a resolution in the Official Journal of the European Union on February 26, 2010, amending the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS). This resolution stipulates that Member States must uniformly implement the regulations to protect the interests of domestic producers (manufacturers and exporters).
The RoHS directive aims to eliminate hazardous substances used in electrical and electronic equipment. However, in some cases, eliminating these chemicals is not technically feasible and may compromise product quality. Therefore, certain chemicals are exempted. However, when research shows that other chemicals are available on the market as alternatives, these exempted chemicals will be removed from the exemption list.
The European Commission has adopted the latest resolution, including cadmium used in Color Conversion II-VI light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for solid-state lighting or display systems in the exemption list, provided that the cadmium content per square millimeter of luminescent surface is less than 10 μg. Since cadmium-free technologies will become available on the market, this exemption will only be valid until July 1, 2014. This exemption is available at the following website:http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:049:0032:0033:EN:PDF .
On the other hand, the European Commission recommended revising the RoHS Directive on December 3, 2008. The European Parliament's Committee on Environment also appointed Jill Evans as its reporting commissioner to prepare a report recommending revisions to the directive. The report was published on December 14, 2009.
The Evans report proposes that the revised directive should not only apply to electrical and electronic equipment, but also to the wiring, consumables, and accessories of such equipment. The report also aims to ensure that hazardous substances are prohibited not only in components intended for reuse and repair, but also in the upgrading or enhancement of the functionality of electrical and electronic equipment.
Currently, the RoHS Directive prohibits the use of six substances, and the proposed amendments do not require an immediate expansion of the scope of prohibited hazardous substances. However, the Evans report recommends including seven additional substances in the prohibition list, including brominated flame retardants, chlorinated flame retardants, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), chlorinated plasticizers, and three phthalates: di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), and dibutyl phthalate (DBP).
Members of the European Parliament's Committee on Environment and the Environment were able to submit amendments to the Evans report before its conclusion last week. The committee will discuss the proposed amendments on April 6 and vote on them on May 4. The European Parliament will then adopt the amended Evans report at its plenary session in June 2010, confirming its position on the RoHS revision proposal. Subsequently, the Council of the European Union will decide whether to accept the European Parliament's amendments to the Commission's recommendations. The new RoHS directive could be adopted in early 2011.
– Reference source: Hong Kong Trade Development Council website, 2010-03-11
