Greenpeace released the 10th edition of "Guide to Greener Electronics" NO.42/2008. Since the first edition of the Guide to Greener Electronics in August 2006, Greenpeace has updated the assessment every three months. The latest 10th edition was released on November 24, 2008, assessing 18 world-renowned manufacturers, covering products such as computers, mobile phones, televisions, and game consoles. Assessment Focus: This assessment continues the focus of the eighth edition, evaluating each manufacturer based on 15 criteria, including: Whether specific hazardous substances are used in products; SVHCs included on or after December 1, 2010, with notification no later than six months after the substance's inclusion; and improvements to corporate policies and practices related to climate and energy. Ranking: Nokia retained its first place with a score of 6.9, followed by Sony Ericsson, Toshiba, and Samsung tied for second place, with Fujitsu Siemens and LGE close behind. Motorola, Microsoft, Dell, and Apple have not set any targets or timelines for reducing global warming pollution and carbon dioxide emissions. Only Fujitsu, Philips, and Sharp support a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2020; HP and Philips have made a more explicit commitment to reduce emissions in [specific areas].

On August 14, 2008, US President George W. Bush signed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). This act authorized and expanded the powers of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to prevent unsafe products from entering the United States, addressing shortcomings in existing US consumer product safety laws. Key provisions of the CPSIA include: banning the sale of any product intended for children 12 years or younger that contains more lead than permitted; and implementing phased limits on lead content. The lead content limit was set at 600 ppm starting February 10, 2009; the second phase, starting August 14, 2009, allowed a limit of 300 ppm; and three years later, on August 14, 2011, the allowed limit was further reduced to 100 ppm. The lead content limit for paints on furniture, toys, and other children's products was lowered from 0.06% to 0.009% by weight, effective August 14, 2009. Permanent restrictions have been imposed on bis-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), and butylparaben (BBP). Transitional restrictions have been imposed on diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP), and di-n-octyl phthalate (DNOP) until the Chronic Hazards Advisory Group (CHAP) reviews these three phthalates.

IEC 62321 Ed.1 is about to be officially released as NO.37/2008. The final draft international standard NO.111/116/FDIS, after a two-month voting period (August 1, 2008 to October 3, 2008), saw its results published on its official website on October 14, 2008. The voting objective of 111/116/FDIS was whether to approve the release of the final draft international standard (FDIS) as an international standard. The voting results are summarized as follows: Passing Criteria Result Votes from P-members: 25 For P-members: 25 = 100% >= 67% Pass Total Votes: 29 Total Votes Against: 0 = 0% <= 25% Pass Final Decision Pass All votes were in favor except for Greece, Israel, Poland, and Portugal, who abstained. The vote resulted in approval of the final draft of the international standard, IEC 62321 Ed.1, as an international standard. The standard is about to be officially released, but the publication date is yet to be determined. SGS will closely monitor the latest developments. For any questions, please feel free to contact our customer service team by letter or phone. SGS is a member of the IEC Restricted Substances Testing Task Force (IEC/TC 111 WG3), and in addition to passing [the relevant regulations/procedures], [the relevant regulations/procedures]...

Announcement No. 38/2008 of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China, "Procedures for Formulating the Key Management Catalogue for Pollution Control of Electronic Information Products," consists of sixteen articles. The purpose is to objectively, fairly, and impartially formulate the key management catalogue for pollution control of electronic information products, prohibiting or restricting the use of toxic and hazardous substances in electronic information products through catalogue management. Article 5 lists the principles to be followed in determining whether a product should be included in the key management catalogue: (i) Products and materials with large production volumes and wide applications, whose toxic and hazardous substances pose a significant threat and damage to the environment and human health; (ii) Products containing toxic and hazardous substances for which there are no technical obstacles to replacement with non-toxic, harmless, or low-toxic and low-harm substances, and which are economically feasible; (iii) Products for which, although toxic and hazardous substances cannot be replaced, can meet the limits of toxic and hazardous substances, and whose production is technically feasible and economically feasible; (iv) Products explicitly restricted due to severe pollution under international conventions; (v) Other products that should be included in the key management catalogue. Other key points to note in the announcement include: The Key Management Catalogue for Pollution Control of Electronic Information Products consists of the product names of electronic information products, the types of toxic and hazardous substances restricted from use, and their usage periods. It is adjusted annually based on actual conditions and the requirements of scientific and technological development, and is gradually expanded in batches.

The 30th Amendment to the EU Hazardous Substances Directive, NO. 36/2008, was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on September 15, 2008. The Commission announced Directive 2008/58/EC, decided on August 21, 2008, and it entered into force on October 5, 2008. This was the 30th amendment to Directive 67/548/EEC, and all EU Member States were required to transpose it into their national law by June 1, 2009. The amendment to Directive 2008/58/EC revised the regulations on the classification, packaging, and labelling of hazardous substances in Directive 67/548/EEC, due to the need to update the classification and labelling information for some new substances or existing substances. This Appendix I list of substances includes over 800 chemical substances (nearly 290 of which are CMRs (carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic for reproduction) and are carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic for reproduction). 380 new substances have been added. The classification and labeling of 516 substances have been modified. Three substances have been deleted. Note 6 and related materials in Appendix I have been removed. Key revisions include: For example, benzene has been classified as a mutagen. Therefore, all substances containing benzene should be separately classified. The primary cause of allergies to people caused by nickel alloy products is the amount of nickel released, not the nickel content of the alloy.

Greenpeace released the ninth edition of its "Guide to Greener Electronics" (NO. 34/2008). Since the first edition of the "Guide to Greener Electronics" in August 2006, Greenpeace has updated the assessment every three months. The latest ninth edition, released on September 16, 2008, assessed 18 world-renowned manufacturers, covering products such as computers, mobile phones, televisions, and game consoles. Assessment Focus: This assessment continues the focus of the eighth edition, evaluating each manufacturer based on 15 criteria, including: Rectifying products by removing hazardous substances; Responsibly retrieving/recycling waste products; Improving corporate policies and practices related to climate and energy. For detailed assessment highlights, please refer to SGS's 2008 issue No. 25 of the electronic newsletter, published by Greenpeace as the eighth edition of the "Guide to Greener Electronics". Ranking of Top 5 (Ninth Edition vs. Eighth Edition): 1. Nokia, Sony, Ericsson & Sony; 2. Samsung; 3. Fujitsu, Siemens, Nokia; 4. Sony, Ericsson, Samsung & Dell; 5. Sony. (Note: The overall score differs slightly from the eighth edition due to a shift in evaluation focus.)

The European Commission published Directive 2008/689/EC, decided on August 1, 2008, in the Official Journal of the European Union on August 23, 2008. This directive amends Annex II to the ELV (End-of-Life Vehicles) Directive 2000/53/EC. This annex contains the exclusion list for Article 4(2)(a) of the ELV Directive, and this amendment entered into force on August 26, 2008. The amendments were made in response to technological advancements. Since 2002, the European Commission has made five amendments to Annex II. The most recent was in September 2005 (2005/673/EC), which mainly discussed expiring exclusion items to determine whether they should be extended. The criteria for this amendment are as follows: Most exclusion items expired in July 2008. For heavy metals whose use can be avoided or have alternatives due to technological advancements, the exclusion period will not be extended. Heavy metals that cannot be avoided or for which there are still no alternatives will remain excluded. The European Commission will periodically review these exclusions, allowing sufficient time for their future elimination. Directive 2005/438/EC permits the installation of parts from vehicles marketed after July 1, 2003, into vehicles marketed before July 1, 2003 (i.e., for safety reasons, vehicles marketed before July 1, 2003, can only be repaired using original parts (i.e., parts containing heavy metals)). In this specific case, parts that do not meet the above exclusion criteria may still be used.

Canada Approves Ban on Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) NO.28/2008 The Government of Canada recently approved Environment Canada's proposed regulation, issued on January 9, 2007, banning the use of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), its salts, and its derivatives in consumer products. This regulation requires a ban, effective May 29, 2008, on the manufacture, use, sale, supply, importation, and manufacture of products containing PFOS. This regulation is based on subsection 93(1) of section 319 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act 1999 (CEPA 1999), aimed at preventing environmental harm caused by the use of the following substances. Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and its salts, including compounds containing the C8F17SO2, C8F17SO3, or C8F17SO2N groups. In Europe, the European Parliament voted in 2007 to adopt amendment 2006/122/EC to the EU Dangerous Substances Directive (76/769/EEC), strictly restricting the market entry and use of PFOS and related substances. Member States were required to transpose the directive into their national law by 27 December 2007 and to convene an agreement on June 27, 2008.