RoHS Comparative Study Final Report EN 1 .pdf

EU-China Trade Project 

Support to China’s Integration into the World Trading System 

比较研究欧洲与中国限制在电子电气产品中 

使用有害物质的环保措施 

Comparative Study of European and Chinese 

Environmental Measures Restricting Hazardous 

Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment 

Charles Barker - British Standards Institution 

Charles Barker – 英国标准协会 

Xing Weibing - China Electronics Standardization Institute 

邢卫兵 – 中国电子技术标准化研究所 

该报告在欧盟协助下完成 

This report was produced with the 

assistance of the European Union

EU-China Trade Project 

Support to China’s Integration into the World Trading System 

Comparative Study of European and 

Chinese Environmental Measures 

Restricting Hazardous Substances 

in Electrical and Electronic 

Equipment 

Charles Barker – British Standards Institute 

Xing Weibing – China Electronics Standardization Institute

Executive Summary 

The EU-China Trade project commissioned a report on the comparison between the 

EU RoHS Directive and the China RoHS regulations. 

This report was based on the actual regulations together with the replies to a list of 

questions sent to China and it also includes the replies to a list of questions received 

from China. 

The scope of the work was to produce a report outlining the differences and how can 

these be addressed in order for the two regulations to converge thus ensuring a 

consistent compliance route for both producers in China and the EU. 

It was found that the aims of the regulations were similar but that the processes 

used were very different. 

The common factors for both regulations were the scope (although there are minor 

differences), the list of hazardous substances was identical, although at present it is 

not known if the maximum allowable values will be the same. 

The main differences for China were requirements for labelling of all products (if 

included in the scope list), requirements of labelling packaging and to use recyclable 

materials and requirements for compulsory certification (provided the product was 

included in the list of the Catalogue). 

It also appears to be compulsory to use Chinese standards in order to demonstrate 

compliance for CCC certification; it appears that there would not be any other 

method for compliance with any other standard. 

2

The EU does not require compulsory certification or labelling or use of standards, 

the producer is responsible for compliance and the fact of placing the product on the 

market implies that the product is compliant. 

In conclusion the regulations are considerably different. 

In order for the regulations to converge and the producers to be able to comply with 

common requirements for both markets it is recommended that means be found for 

the following actions to be adopted: 

• China to either remove the compulsory certification requirements or 

alternatively accept the presumption of conformity including a manufacture's 

self declaration based on one of the EU voluntary schemes developed by 

accredited certification organisations in several Member States. 

• To develop standards through the international forum, the IEC, thus 

complying with the intent of the WTO TBT agreement with respect to 

standards, the same can also be expected of the certification requirements. 

3

Table of Contents 

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................2 

Table of Contents....................................................................................................................4 

List of Acronyms......................................................................................................................5 

1.0 Definitions....................................................................................................................6 

2.0 Objectives....................................................................................................................6 

3.0 Terms of Reference.....................................................................................................6 

4.0 Deliverables.................................................................................................................7 

5.0 Procedure....................................................................................................................7 

6.0 Results ........................................................................................................................9 

7.0 Discussion of Results ................................................................................................10 

7.1 Comparison between EU RoHS Directive and China RoHS regulations. .................10 

Figure 1 Decision Tree to Determine actions to comply with China RoHS Regulation.........10 

Figure 2 Decision Tree to Determine actions to comply with EU RoHS Regulation .............11 

7.1.1 Commonalities:..............................................................................................12 

7.1.2 Differences: ...................................................................................................13 

7.1.2.1 European Union: (See Appendix 2)...............................................................13 

7.1.2.2 China: (See Appendix 2) ..............................................................................14 

7.2 Producer Obligations in the EU .........................................................................15 

7.3 Certification........................................................................................................15 

7.4 Standards ..........................................................................................................17 

8.0 Conclusions...............................................................................................................19 

9.0 Recommendations ....................................................................................................20 

10.0 References ................................................................................................................21 

10.1 EU Documents online........................................................................................21 

10.2 Chinese Documents online................................................................................21 

10.3 UK Documents online........................................................................................21 

10.4 Other relevant sites ...........................................................................................21 

Appendix 1 UK RoHS Scope Decision Tree .................................................................... - 22 - 

Appendix 2 Comparison Table for EU and China RoHS regulations ....................................23 

Appendix 3 Comparison Table Scopes of the EU and China Regulations ...........................50 

Appendix 4 Questions from China ........................................................................................55 

Appendix 5 Questions from the EU.......................................................................................75 

Appendix 6 Certification Scheme from BSI in the UK ...........................................................89 

4

List of Acronyms 

RoHS Restriction of Hazardous Substances 

IEC International Electrotechnical Commission 

EU European Union 

EUCTP European Union China Trade Project 

PRC People’s Republic of China 

MII Ministry of Information Industry of the PRC 

BSI British Standards Institution 

Kitemark BSI Certification Scheme (voluntary) 

WEEE Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment 

NDRC National Development and Reform Commission 

MOC Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China 

GAC General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China 

SAIC State Administration for Industry & Commerce 

AQSIQ General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and 

Quarantine 

SEPA State Environmental Protection Administration of China 

EFUP Environment-Friendly Use Period 

NWML National Weights and Measures Laboratory 

FAQ’s Frequently asked questions 

EEE Electrical and Electronic Equipment 

MCV Maximum Concentration Value 

CCC China Compulsory Certification 

5

1.0 Definitions 

Producer (EU definition) 

means any person who, irrespective of the selling technique used, including by 

means of distance communication 1 

(i) manufactures and sells electrical and electronic equipment under his own brand; 

(ii) resells under his own brand equipment produced by other suppliers, a reseller 

not being regarded as the ‘producer’ if the brand of the producer appears on the 

equipment, as provided for in sub-point (i); or 

(iii) imports or exports electrical and electronic equipment on a professional basis 

into a Member State. 

In this report the word producer will only be used, although it is understood that 

China does not use this word in their regulations. 

For other definitions please refer to ISO/IEC Guide 2 

2.0 Objectives 

To identify current issues surrounding the Chinese and EU RoHS from both a 

European and Chinese perspective. 

To identify and analyse the main differences between the Chinese and EU RoHS 

requirements and make recommendations on how to harmonize the two 

environmental measures. 

3.0 Terms of Reference 

The project will create a report that will address key concerns of European and 

Chinese stakeholder on the respective Chinese and EU RoHS. The report will be 

used as a milestone for the discussions during the “EU-China Trade Conference on 

Restrictions of use of hazardous substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment". 

The study report will address the following three points: 

Firstly, the study report will address a list of questions put forward from both Chinese 

and European stakeholder clarifying key concerns from both sides on the respective 

application of the EU and Chinese RoHS. 

1 distance communication according to Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of 

the Council of 20 May 1997 on the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts 

6

The report then make a detailed analysis of the gaps between the two measures on 

the scope, technical requirements and application, standards, and compliance of the 

two environmental measures. 

Finally, the report will explore ways of addressing the identified gaps and differences 

within the short, medium and long term so that the European as well as the Chinese 

industry does not face unnecessary technical trade barriers. 

4.0 Deliverables 

1. Draft a report addressing all questions submitted by EUCTP 

2. Conduct a comparative analysis including recommendations on how to 

harmonize the EU and Chinese RoHS measures. 

3. Make recommendations on how to address the identified gaps between the 2 

environmental measures. 

4. Submit findings in the form of a report to EUCTP 

5.0 Procedure 

The Table shown in Appendix 2 compares the actual clauses of each regulation, 

corresponding clauses have been placed alongside each others regulations thus 

indicating where differences exist. Where no matching clauses were identified the 

corresponding column was left blank, comment were made where applicable. 

The same methodology was used to identify the differences between the Scope of 

the EU Directive and the RoHS China Regulation (see Appendix 3) 

Detail definitions of specific words in the clauses were not investigated. Appropriate 

definitions have been included in the respective column of the Table in Appendix 2 in 

order to assist the reader of the report and also where applicable the definitions and 

clarifications are included in the replies to the questions posed by China as part of 

this project. 

Extensive use of the internet resulted in obtaining documentation which assisted in 

the understanding of the regulations and the writing of this report. 

7

The following documentation was found and reviewed: 

EU RoHS Directive including Commission Decisions on Exemptions. 

China RoHS Regulation (in English as supplied by EU-China) 

Chinese Q+A’s posted in MII website in Chinese (the translation used for the 

purpose of this report was obtained from the website of Grace Compliance 

Specialists LLC) 

Extended Chinese Scope of the Regulation from MII website in Chinese (the 

translation used for this purpose was a Draft English reference Translation 

Prepared for R. Ferris and H. Zhang, Holland & Knight LLP AeA Advance the 

Business of Technology) 

BSI Kitemark scheme and what is considered appropriate for the perceived 

compliance with the EU RoHS Directive (see Appendix 6). Other EU voluntary 

certification schemes were also investigated, two others were identifies one 

run by SGS and another run by BABT/TUV. 

RoHS Enforcement Guidance Document prepared through the EU RoHS 

Enforcement Authorities Informal Network. 

RoHS UK DTI Government Guidance Notes 

European Commission Directorate-General Environment: Frequently Asked 

Questions (FAQ) on WEEE and RoHS 

All documentation from the EU EUROPA Website ENTERPRISE technical 

barriers to Trade which documents the TBT China Notification and the 

exchange of comments related to it. 

NWML FAQ’s and website. 

Questions were also sent to China as produced in the EU for Chinese experts to 

reply and clarify issues these and the replies can be seen in Appendix 5. 

Questions were received from China and these were answered by the experts 

allocate to this project and supporting organisations where applicable and from 

FAQ’s of the EU and other organisations. The questions and replies can be seen in 

Appendix 4. 

8

6.0 Results 

All the results are shown in Appendices 1 to 5. 

Appendix 1 shows the UK decision tree to identify if a product is within the scope of 

the RoHS Directive. This was included in order to support Appendix 2 Table of 

Comparison between EU and China RoHS regulations. 

Appendix 2 contains the comparison table for the EU and China RoHS regulations. 

The table contains each clause of the EU and China regulations and these were 

matched against each other where possible in order to establish similarities, where 

no similarities existed the corresponding columns were left blank. 

Appendix 3 contains a comparison of the list of products contained in the Scope of 

the EU and China regulations (it includes a shortened list to that shown in the 

extended scope for the China regulation) 

Appendix 4 contains the list of questions from China and answers from the EU 

experts. 

Appendix 5 contains the list of EU questions and the replies from the Chinese 

experts 

9

7.0 Discussion of Results 

7.1 Comparison between EU RoHS Directive and China RoHS 

regulations. 

This Process is a 2 Step process comprising the following activities: 

Figure 1 Decision Tree to Determine actions to comply with China 

RoHS Regulation 

Step 1 

Is the Component/Product listed in the Scope? 

Are any of the following substances 

present in the product? 

1. lead, 

2. mercury, 

3. cadmium, 

4. hexavalent chromium, 

5. polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) 

6. polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) 

From: 01/03/2007 

If placed on the market 2 

Disclosure Label 3 on the product and/or 

include in Manual as follows: 

1. Substance and the amount present 

2. Substance location in the product 

3. Environment-friendly use period 

4. Indication of possibility of recycling 

the component/product 

5. Packaging material 

6. Ensure use or recyclable material 

in the packaging 

Step 2 

Is Component/Product listed in the Catalogue? 

Certification not required 

Date: Not yet available 

Comply with the MCV or substitute 

CCC Certification Compulsory 

(Use only Chinese Laboratory 

and Chinese Standards) Post market surveillance may also 

be required 

2 If component/product is sold B2B then labelling is not required. 

3 To be in accordance with the standard 

10

Figure 2 Decision Tree to Determine actions to comply with EU RoHS 

Regulation 

Is the Component/Product in the Scope? 

(see Appendix 1) 

Are any of the following substances 

present in the product? 

7. lead, 

8. mercury, 

9. cadmium, 

10. hexavalent chromium, 

11. polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) 

12. polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) 

From: 01/07/2006 

Ensure that the component/product complies 

with the Directive 

This is done by self certification 

The Producer is responsible for compliance 

Placing on the market means the product 

Complies 

Marker Surveillance by Member States 

11

7.1.1 Commonalities: 

Common: 

• hazardous substances 

• the aims 

• the scope 

Hazardous Substances: 

The six substances are identical but China has included the possibility of adding to 

the list, the substances are lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, PBB and PBDE 

and cadmium. 

Aims: 

These are similar 

Scope: 

In general similar but there are differences (see in Appendix 2 Scope and Appendix 

3). It should be noted that the Guidelines on the WEEE Directive with respect to the 

scope apply to the RoHS Directive which adds to the exclusion/exemption rules. 

(See Appendix 1 for how the scope may be determined in the UK) 

The scope overlaps most of the EU Directive but there are other categories as 

shown below that do not match the EU scope: (see Appendix 3). 

• Radar systems 

• Electronic test equipment 

• Automotive electronics 

• Semiconductor and other components 

• Medical devices and products 

• All manner of electronic components 

• batteries, 

• Packaging material 

12

The following equipment is not in general included in the Chinese RoHS regulation 

although circuitry in these products are and also some home appliances are. 

• Toys and home appliances 

Also on Technical Adaptation a committee will be set up to support the development 

of new materials and review the position. China does not state how often reviews will 

take place and only indicates where necessary the setting up of arrangements with 

all parties. 

For more detailed information related to the Chinese legislation please also read the 

questions and answer given in Appendix 5. 

7.1.2 Differences: 

7.1.2.1 European Union: (See Appendix 2) 

Principle: EU restricts and then allows exemptions 

There are no labelling requirements. 

Based on self certification and each Member State undertakes market 

surveillance as appropriate 

There are no compulsory third party certification requirements 

All products in the scope are restricted from containing the listed substances 

within certain limits 

The scope is based on a list of products and on voltages limits (up to 1000 v a.c 

and 1500 v d.c) 

There are exemptions and applications for further exemption can be made (these 

are listed in the Annex to the Directive and are adopted via Commission 

Decisions). 

There are exclusions (spares for replacement of EEE placed on the market 

before 1 st July 2006, military equipment, equipment used inside other equipment 

that is not in the scope, large scale stationary industrial tools and for spare parts 

for the repair or to the reuse of EEE placed on the market before 1 st July 2006) 

13

There are no harmonised standards supporting the Directive, it is left to the 

producer to determine how to comply. IEC standards if available may be used 

and be acceptable based on the principles established in the WTO TBT. 

A committee is established to assist the Commission on scientific and technical 

progress for the adoption of implementation measures provided for in Article 5(1) 

of the Directive. These measures relate to the establishment, provide review of 

applications of exemptions and review the exemption already in place on a 

regular basis (at least every 4 years). 

The placing of the product on the market by the producer indicates that the 

product is compliant (presumption of compliance with the Directive) 

7.1.2.2 China: (See Appendix 2) 

Principle: China controls and also restricts no 

exemptions included in regulation 

Control: labelling and marking (self certification) 

Restricts Mandatory testing and certification based on Maximum 

Concentration Values. 

The placing of the product on the market for a product listed in the Catalogue can 

only be done on demonstration of compliance by CCC certification, this is 

compulsory. 

All other products are exempt from certification unless these are listed in the 

Catalogue but not from the labelling and information requirements if mentioned in 

the scope of the regulation. 

All products in the scope of the regulations must be labelled and marked 

accordingly after 01 March 2007. 

o Label the Substance and the amount present 

o Label the location where the substance is present in the product 

o Label the period of time during which the substance will be stable and 

not leach (environmental friendly use period) 4 

4 

Only applicable to products not in compliance with the Maximum Concentration Values (MCV) 

14

o Packaging material must be labelled in the packaging 

o Provide information on recycling for products 

Where necessary a committee would be set up to consider technical adaptation 

The regulations with respect to testing and certification will be supported by 

standards. These standards will provide the maximum concentration values, 

testing methodology and labelling requirements. Where it is not possible to 

comply with the limits imposed, then the non-compliant component would have to 

be replaced. 

The standards appear to become mandatory since there is not at present an 

equivalent way of fulfilling the requirements (a case of unavoidable 

standards?). 

There are no specific exclusion in the regulation 

There are no voltage limits 

It appeared that only authorised Chinese laboratories will be allowed to carry out 

testing. 

7.2 Producer Obligations in the EU 

A producer should maintain technical documentation showing that its electrical and 

electronic equipment complies with EU RoHS Directive. The documentation is a 

material declaration or certificate of compliance to provide to clients. Certification 

from an organisation providing such service and recognised by an accreditation 

organisation within the country in which these operate e.g. in UKAS in the UK, may 

resolve the issue to the producer (for definition of producer see Appendix 2 

Definitions). 

7.3 Certification 

It has been noted during the research that a number of organisations in the EU are 

developing voluntary certification schemes to assist producers in complying with the 

EU RoHS Directive. Three schemes have so far been identified in the EU (BSI see 

Appendix 6, SGS and TUV) but others are likely to exist in the other Member States. 

It is noted that these are voluntary and it is up to the producers to employ these 

organisations to help them, therefore already competition has resulted between the 

various certification organisations. 

15

In China when the product is included in the list of the Catalogue the producers will 

have to obtain mandatory certification in accordance with Chinese standards (these 

are under preparation). The methodology will be that the producer will require to 

obtain CCC certificate, it is not clear at present who will undertake this work or if it 

will be possible for this work to be carried out by EU certification organisations. 

WTO TBT Agreement 

The WTO TBT agreement was developed to ensure and prevent barriers to trade by 

signatory countries, it covers issues such as development of standards and 

certification schemes. The parts of the following article are indicated in this report to 

reinforce the issue related to mandatory certification requirements. 

Article 5 

Procedures are not to be prepared with the intent of creating obstacle to trade 

Where international guidance exists for assessment procedures these should be 

used as the basis for their conformity assessment except where inappropriate 

(national security etc). 

Article 6 

Members shall ensure whenever possible that results of assessments in other 

member states are accepted, even where the procedures differ from their own 

provided they are considered equivalent to their own. 

Members are to permit participation of conformity bodies outside of their jurisdiction 

in their conformity assessment procedures under conditions not less favourable that 

their own national bodies 

To ensure the above international standards have been developed in order to have 

confidence in the assessment bodies and their certifications, UKAS in the UK uses 

international standards to accredit these bodies, the standards used are listed below. 

1) Laboratories in accordance BS EN ISO/IEC 17025:2000 

2) Certification bodies in accordance with: BS EN 45012 (ISO Guide 62), 

3) BS EN 45011 (ISO Guide 65) and ISO/IEC 17024, 

4) ISO Guide 66 bodies operating assessment and certification 

5) Inspection bodies in accordance with BS EN ISO/IEC 17020 

. 

16

7.4 Standards 

It is noted that China is preparing 9 standards related to implementation of the China 

RoHS regulations. At the time of writing of this report the standards were as yet not 

available for reviewing therefore it is not clear if the Maximum Concentration Values 

will be identical to the EU and how these will be measured. 

It is also not clear how the manner in which labelling and marking will be carried out, 

this is also subject to a standard. 

It is noted that the IEC is working on the following documents, it is not clear if China 

will adopt these standards in full or will it adopt it including some Chinese 

applications if these standards are not accepted at international level. 

1. IEC/PAS 61906 Ed 1, Draft May 05 

Procedure for the declaration of materials in products of the electro-technical 

and electronic industry 

2. IEC 62321 Ed 1 committee draft 30 Sept 05 

Procedures for the Determination of Levels of Regulated Substances in 

Electro-technical Products 

There are also other international acceptable codes of practice which may be 

considered for use: 

1. JEDEC, JIG 101, issued April 05 

Joint Industry Guide 101 Material Declarations for Electronic Products 

http://www.jedec.org/download/search/ACF276.pdf 

2. IPC-1751 Generic Requirements for Declaration Process Management 

3. IPC-1752 Materials Declaration Management 

4. EIA/ECCB-954 

Electrical and Electronic Components and Products Hazardous Substance 

Free Standard and Requirements 

17

The following are the titles of the Chinese standards as known to date. 

1. SJ/T11363-2006 Marking for the Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic 

Information Products 

2. SJ/T 11364-2006 “Requirements for Concentration Limits for Certain 

Hazardous Substances in Electronic Information Products”. 

3 SJ/T 11365-2006 “Testing Methods for Regulated Substances in EIPs”, 

which refer to the 111/54/CDV document of IEC/TC111/WG3. 

4 SN/T 2005.1-2005 Determination of polobromobiphenyls and polybiphenyl 

ethers in electrical and electronic equipment Part 1: High performance liquid 

chromatography method 

5. SN/T 2005.2-2005 Determination of polobromobiphenyls and polybiphenyl 

ethers in electrical and electronic equipment Part 2: Gc-MS method. 

6. SN/T 2003.1-2005 Determination of lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium and 

bromide in electrical and electronic equipment Part 1: Qualitative screening 

by wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometric method. 

7. SN/T 2004.1-2005 Determination of mercury in electrical and electronic 

equipment Part 1:Hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometric 

method. 

8. SN/T 2004.2-2005 Determination of chromium (VI) in electrical and electronic 

equipment Part 2: Flame atomic absorption spectrometric method. 

9. SN/T 2004.3-2005 Determination of lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium and 

bromide in electrical and electronic equipment Part 3: 1,5- 

Diphenylcarbohydrazide spectrophotometric method. 

WTO TBT Agreement 

The WTO/TBT Agreement developed the following code for all standards developing 

organizations in order to reduce the possible use of standards as barriers to trade. 

Annex 3 Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and Application of 

Standards 

The standards body ensures that standards are not prepared, adopted or applied 

that create unnecessary obstacles to international trade. 

18

8.0 Conclusions 

1) The regulations in the EU and China are different and are based on different 

processes although the aims are similar. 

2) The China RoHS regulations require labelling and subject to the product 

being listed in the Catalogue compulsory certification based on standards and 

presumably the use of Chinese laboratories. 

3) The European Union Directive does not require the use of standards, do not 

require compulsory certification or labelling thus giving the producer the 

responsibility for compliance. Placing the product on the market signifies 

compliance. 

4) The requirements of the Chinese regulation require the use of Chinese 

standards. It appears that no other standard would be acceptable. 

5) Convergence of the regulations is not foreseen at present, it would require 

high level negotiations between the EU and China and changes of approach. 

6) It is still not clear how the Chinese regulations will be implemented, how 

consistency across the autonomous regions will be affected and who will be 

appointed to undertake the tests and provide certification. 

7) The dates of implementation are different the EU has already implemented 

the Directive as from the 1 st July 2006. China will implement the first step of 

the regulations as from the 1 st of March 2007. Dates for the implementation of 

the second stage of the regulation have to been provided as yet. 

19

9.0 Recommendations 

1) China and the EU should consider converging the scope (list of products and 

components) in order to reduce possible confusion for producers when 

considering compliance for both systems. 

2) Standards should be based on international standards wherever possible in 

order to fulfil the principles of the WTO TBT agreement, therefore it is 

recommended that further efforts be made in order to achieve this. 

The EU and China standards bodies should agree a common work 

programme that would result in common standards that fulfil the requirements 

of each others legislation. 

3) It is recommended that a study be carried out of the different voluntary RoHS 

certification schemes under development or developed in the EU to determine 

the similarity between them and determine if the schemes may be suitable 

and acceptable to be used in order to comply with the requirements in China. 

4) Acceptance of each others test results and certification schemes in should be 

considered. This would assist the producers in China and the EU to comply 

with both regulations and reduce technical barriers to trade. 

5) China should consider changing its compulsory certification scheme to a self 

certification scheme thus empowering the producers to find their own 

methods of compliance with the regulations and avoid the pitfalls of 

mandatory certification to technical standards that are difficult to maintain and 

expensive for producers to comply with. 

20

10.0 References 

10.1 EU Documents online 

1) Consolidated Version of RoHS Directive 

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/consleg/2002/L/02002L0095- 

20060701-en.pdf 

2) Frequently Asked Question on the RoHS and WEEE Directives 

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/pdf/faq_weee.pdf 

10.2 Chinese Documents online 

1) Extended Scope of China RoHS 

http://www.mii.gov.cn/art/2006/03/16/art_1221_8441.html 

2) Common Q&A for China RoHS 


10.3 UK Documents online 

1) RoHS enforcement Guidance Document 

www.rohs.gov.uk/Docs/Links/RoHS%20Enforcement%20Guidance%20Docu 

ment%20-%20v.1%20May%202006.pdf 

2) DTI RoHS Regulations Government Guidance Notes 

http://www.rohs.gov.uk/Docs/Links/RoHS%20Regs%20Guidance%20- 

%2021%20June%202006.pdf 

3) National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) 

RoHS Web Page http://www.rohs.gov.uk 

4) Envirowise UK environmental advise for business 

http://www.envirowise.gov.uk/ 

10.4 Other relevant sites 

1) Design Chain Associates Dina Solutions 

http://www.chinarohs.com/ 

2) AeA China RoHS Overview 

http://www.aeanet.org/GovernmentAffairs/gabl_ChinaRoHSpage0905.asp 

3) Green Supply Line http://www.greensupplyline.com/ 

21

Appendix 1 UK RoHS Scope Decision Tree 

(obtained from the DTI RoHS Regulations Government Guidance Notes November 2005)

Appendix 2 Comparison Table for EU and China RoHS regulations 

RoHS EU Directive Comments Measures for Administration of the Pollution 

Control of Electronic Information Products 

Article 1 Objectives Article 1 and 2 Objectives 

The purpose of this Directive is to 

approximate the laws of the Member 

States on the restrictions of the use of 

hazardous substances in electrical 

and electronic equipment and to contribute to 

the protection of human 

health and the environmentally sound 

recovery and disposal of waste 

electrical and electronic equipment. 

Article 2 Scope (See Flowchart for 

determining Scope in 

Applies to electrical and electronic 

equipment falling under the categories 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10 set out in 

Annex IA to Directive No 2002/96/EC 

Appendix 1) 

Article 1 

For the purposes of controlling and reducing the 

pollution caused by the discarded electronic 

information products, …………….. and 

protecting the environment and human health, 

these measures are formulated in accordance 

with Cleaner Production Promotion Law of the 

People’s Republic of China and Law of the 

People’s Republic of China for Preventing and 

Remedying Pollution Caused by Solid Wastes 

and other …………….. 

Article 2 

These measures are applicable to Controlling 

and Reducing the environmental pollution and 

other public hazard caused by electronic 

information products during the period of 

producing, selling and importing electronic 

information products, ……………except 

production of exported products, …….. 

From Article 3 Definitions 

3.1 Electronic information products 

Toxic or harmful substances or elements 

Comment 

The objectives are similar and can be 

considered for the purpose of this study 

as the same. 

There is no actual scope in the regulation 

but it is described in Article 3 Paragraph 1 

Definitions. 

There is an expanded list of products. 

( See Appendix 3)



(WEEE) and to electric light bulbs, and 

luminaires in households. 

1) Large household appliances, 

2) Small household appliances 

3) IT and telecommunications 

equipment 

4) Consumer equipment 

5) Lighting equipment 

6) Electrical and electronic tools (with 

the exception of large-scale stationary 

industrial tools) 

7) Toys, leisure and sports equipment 

10) Automatic dispensers 

This Directive shall apply without prejudice 

to Community legislation on safety and 

health requirements and specific Community 

waste management legislation. 

refers to electronic radar products, electronic 

communication products, broadcast and 

television products, computer products, 

household electronic products, electronic 

measurement instrument products, security 

products for electron, electronic component 

products, electronic application products, 

electronic material products, and other relative 

products and their accessory parts. 

24 

Comment 

The scope overlaps most of the EU 

Directive but there are other categories as 

shown below that do not match the EU 

scope: (see Appendix 3) 

• Radar systems 

• Electronic test equipment 

• Automotive electronics 

• Semiconductor and other 

components 

• Medical devices and products 

• All manner of electronic 

components 

• batteries, 

• Packaging material 

The following equipment 

• Toys and home appliances 

are not in general included in the Chinese 

RoHS regulation although circuitry in 

these products are and also some home 

appliances are.



Exclusion in Scope 

This Directive does not apply to spare 

parts for the repair, or to the reuse, of 

electrical and electronic equipment put 

on the market before 1 July 2006. 

Article 3 Definitions Article 3 Definitions 

1) electrical and electronic 

equipment (EEE) 

means equipment which is dependent 

on electric currents or electromagnetic 

fields in order to work properly and 

equipment for the generation, transfer 

and measurement of such currents and 

fields falling under the categories set 

out in Annex IA to Directive 

2002/96/EC (WEEE) 

and designed for use with a voltage 

3.2 Pollution caused by electronic information 

products 

refers to electronic information products that 

contain toxic, harmful substances or 

elements, or the toxic, harmful substances or 

elements contained in the electronic information 

products is above the standard of the state or 

industry and have caused damage, injury, waste 

or other harmful effects on the environment, 

resource, human health and property safety. 

25 

Comment 

This regulation does not include any 

exclusions as such. 

This document does not have any voltage 

limitations as the EU RoHS 

Initially all products as listed in the 

expanded scope will be required to label 

and identify which of the substances it 

contains. 

Once equipment and products are 

included in the Catalogue by default all 

other equipment will be excluded. 

There is no reference for comparison of 

definitions. 

5 

Whoever exclusively provides financing under or pursuant to any finance agreement shall not be deemed a ‘producer’ unless he also acts as a producer within the meaning of subpoints 

(i) to (iii). 

6 

distance communication according to Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 1997 on the protection of consumers in 

respect of distance contracts



rating not exceeding 1000 volts for 

alternating current and 1 500 volts for 

direct current; 

2) producer 5 

means any person who, irrespective of 

the selling technique used, including by 

means of distance communication 6 

(i) manufactures and sells electrical 

and electronic equipment under his 

own brand; 

(ii) resells under his own brand 

equipment produced by other 

suppliers, a reseller not being regarded 

as the ‘producer’ if the brand of the 

producer appears on the equipment, as 

provided for in subpoint (i); 

or 

(iii) imports or exports electrical and 

electronic equipment on a professional 

basis into a Member State. 

3.3 Pollution control of electronic 

information products 

refers to following measures in order to reduce 

or eliminate the toxic, harmful substances or 

elements contained in electronic information 

products: 

1. During the process of design and production, 

change the research and design plan, readjust 

process flow, change the materials to be used, 

renovate production mode and take other 

technical measures; 

2. During the process of design, production, 

sale and import, indicate the names and the 

contents of toxic or harmful substances or 

elements, indicate the environment-friendly use 

period of electronic information products; 

3. During the process of sale, strictly control the 

purchase channels, reject selling the electronic 

information products which do not accord with 

the standard of the state and industry for 

controlling toxic or hazardous substances or 

elements caused by electronic information 

products; 

5. Other measures for pollution control as 

stipulated in these measures. 

3.5 Environment-friendly use period of 

electronic information products 

26 

Comment 

Encourages the replacement of toxic 

substances where possible 

Labelling (name of substance and level of 

contents and period of stability)



Article 4 Prevention Acceptable Maximum Values 

(see Footnote 3(M1)) 

1. Member States shall ensure that 

new electrical and electronic 

equipment put on the market does not 

contain lead, mercury, cadmium, 

hexavalent chromium, polybrominated 

biphenyls (PBB) or polybrominated 

diphenyl ethers (PBDE). 

2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to the 

applications listed in the Annex and 

relevant Commission Decisions 7 For the purposes of Article 

5(1)(a), a maximum 

concentration value of 0,1 % 

by weight in homogeneous 

materials for lead, mercury, 

hexavalent chromium, 

polybrominated biphenyls 

(PBB) and polybrominated 

diphenyl ethers (PBDE) and 

of 0,01 % by weight in 

. 

3. On the basis of a proposal from the 

homogeneous materials for 

cadmium shall be tolerated. 

refers to the period during which the toxic and 

harmful substances or elements contained in 

electronic information products will not leak or 

mutate. The electronic information products will 

not cause serious environmental pollution and 

serious damage to human health and property 

while the consumers of electronic information 

products are using the products. 

From Article 3 Defintions 

3.4 Toxic or harmful substances or elements 

refers to the following substances or elements 

contained in the electronic information products: 

Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Hexavalent 

Chromium, Polybrominated Biphenyls (PBB), 

Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDE) and 

other toxic or harmful substances or elements 

prescribed by the State 

3) Pollution control of electronic information 

27 

Comment 

7 (M1)Commission Decision 2005/618/EC, of 18 August 2005 L 214 65 19.8.2005, (M2)Commission Decision 2005/717/EC, of 13 October 2005 L 271 48 15.10.2005 

(M3)Commission Decision 2005/747/EC, of 21 October 2005 L 280 18 25.10.2005 and (M4)Commission Decision 2006/310/EC, of 21 April 2006 

Period by which leaching of hazardous 

substances does not take place. 

The list of substances are identical. 

The law does not indicate any maximum 

concentration values (it appears this is 

provided for in standards). 

“Put on the Market” the principles are 

different, in China it appears to mean that 

any product in the scope list will require at 

entry ports proof of markings and 

disclosure and once it is included in the



Commission, the European 

Parliament and the Council shall 

decide, as soon as scientific evidence 

is available, and in accordance with the 

principles on chemicals policy as laid 

down in the Sixth Community 

Environment Action Programme, 

on the prohibition of other hazardous 

substances and the substitution 

thereof by more environment-friendly 

alternatives which ensure at least the 

same level of protection for consumers. 

Article 5 Adaptation to scientific and 

technical progress 

1. Any amendments which are 

necessary in order to adapt the Annex 

to scientific and technical progress for 

the following purposes shall be 

adopted in accordance with the 

procedure referred to in Article 7(2): 

(a) establishing, as necessary, 

maximum concentration values up to 

which the presence of the substances 

referred to in Article 4(1) in specific 

The term "homogeneous" 

means "of uniform 

composition throughout". 

Examples of 

"homogeneous materials" 

are individual types of: 

plastics, ceramics, glass, 

metals, alloys, paper, board, 

resins and coatings. 

The term “mechanically 

disjointed” means that the 

materials can, in principle, 

be 

separated by mechanical 

actions such as: 

unscrewing, cutting, 

crushing, grinding and 

abrasive processes. 

products 

3.3.4. It is forbidden to import the electronic 

information products which do not accord with 

the standard of the state or industry for 

controlling toxic or hazardous substances or 


products; 

Article 5 and 6 

Article 5 

MII shall draw up the measures beneficial to the 

pollution control of electronic information 

products through consultation with the relevant 

competent administrations of the State Council. 

MII and other relevant competent 

administrations of the State Council shall, within 

the scope of their official duty, promote the 

technology of the pollution control of electronic 

28 

Comment 

Catalogue and standards become 

available certification will also be a 

requirement. 

In the EU it would mean when the product 

is transferred from the producer to a 

distributor or final consumer or user on 

the Community market and made available 

in the community for the first time. The 

Directive implies that upon placing on the 

market the product is assumed to be 

compliant.



materials and components of electrical 

and electronic equipment shall be 

tolerated; 

(b) exempting materials and 

components of electrical and electronic 

equipment from Article 4(1) if their 

elimination or substitution via design 

changes or materials and components 

which do not require any of the 

materials or substances referred to 

therein is technically or scientifically 

impracticable, or where the negative 

environmental, health and/or consumer 

safety impacts caused by substitution 

are likely to outweigh the 

environmental, health and/or consumer 

safety benefits thereof; 

(c) carrying out a review of each 

exemption in the Annex at least every 

four years or four years after an item is 

added to the list with the aim of 

considering deletion of materials and 

components of electrical and electronic 

equipment from the Annex if their 

elimination or substitution via design 

changes or materials and components 

which do not require any of the 

materials or substances referred to in 

Article 4(1) is technically or 

scientifically possible, provided that the 

negative environmental, health and/or 

information products and comprehensive 

utilization of the resources, encourage and 

support scientific research, technical 

development, and international cooperation on 

the pollution control of electronic information 

products, implement the relevant rules on the 

pollution control of electronic information 

products. 

Article 6 

MII may provide certain support to the 

organizations and individuals actively involved 

in the research and development of new types 

of environment-friendly electronic information 

products. 

29 

Comment



consumer safety impacts 

caused by substitution do not outweigh 

the possible environmental, health 

and/or consumer safety benefits 

thereof. 

2. Before the Annex is amended 

pursuant to paragraph 1, the 

Commission shall inter alia consult 

producers of electrical and electronic 

equipment, recyclers, treatment 

operators, environmental organisations 

and employee and consumer 

associations. Comments shall be 

forwarded to the Committee referred to 

in Article 7(1). 

The Commission shall provide an 

account of the information it receives. 

Article 6 Review 

Before 13 February 2005, the 

Commission shall review the measures 

provided for in this Directive to take 

into account, as necessary, new 

scientific evidence. 

In particular the Commission shall, by 

that date, present proposals for 

including in the scope of this Directive 

equipment which falls under 

categories 8 and 9 set out in Annex IA 

to Directive 2002/96/EC 

(WEEE). 

30 

Comment



The Commission shall also study the 

need to adapt the list of substances 

of Article 4(1), on the basis of scientific 

facts and taking the precautionary 

principle into account, and present 

proposals to the European 

Parliament and Council for such 

adaptations, if appropriate. 

Particular attention shall be paid during 

the review to the impact on the 

environment and on human health of 

other hazardous substances and 

materials used in electrical and 

electronic equipment. The Commission 

shall examine the feasibility of 

replacing such substances and 

materials and shall present proposals 

to the European Parliament and to the 

Council in order to extend the scope of 

Article 4, as appropriate. 

Article 7 Committee Article 4 

1. The Commission shall be assisted 

by the Committee set up by 

Article 18 of Council Directive 

75/442/EEC (1). 

2. Where reference is made to this 

paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of 

Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, 

having regard to Article 8 thereof. 

The period provided for in Article 5(6) 

of Decision 1999/468/EC shall 

The Ministry of Information Industry of the 

People’s Republic of China (MII), NDRC, MOC, 

GAC, SAIC, AQSIQ and SEPA shall administer 

and supervise the pollution control of electronic 

information products within the scope of their 

official duty. If necessary, above competent 

administrations shall establish coordinative 

mechanism to solve the important issues 

relating to the pollution control of electronic 

information products. 

31 

Comment



be set at three months. 

3. The Committee shall adopt its rules 

of procedure. 

Article 8 Penalties Chapter 3 Penalty Provisions 

Articles 22, 23 and 24 

Member States shall determine 

penalties applicable to breaches of the 

national provisions adopted pursuant to 

this Directive. The penalties thus 

provided for shall be effective, 

proportionate and dissuasive. 

Penalties are left to each 

Member State jurisdiction 

Article 22 

Whoever violates these measures in one of the 

following circumstances shall be punished by 

the Customs, the administrations for industry 

and commerce, quality inspection, 

environmental protection and etc within the 

scope of their own official duty: 

(1) An electronic information product 

manufacturer violates Article 10 of these 

measures to use the materials, technologies, 

and processes that do not accord with the 

national or industrial standard for controlling 

toxic, harmful substances or elements caused 

by electronic information products; 


manufacturer and importer violate the provision 

of Article 14, Section 1 of these measures to 

produce or use the packing for electronic 

information products that do not accord with the 



by electronic information products; 

(3) An electronic information product seller 

violates Article 15 of these measures to sell 

electronic information products that do not 

32 

Comment 

Penalties are not discussed in this report 

but anyone that places products on the 

market will have to comply with the law 

and will be subject to the penalties in the 

event of non compliance this regulation 

also includes government officials 

penalties which the EU RoHS Directive 

does not consider.



accord with the national or industrial standard 

for controlling toxic, harmful substances or 


products; 

(4) An electronic information product importer 

violates the provision of Article 16 of these 

measures to import electronic information 

products that do not accord with the national or 

industrial standard for controlling toxic, harmful 

substances or elements caused by electronic; 

(5) An electronic information product producer, 

seller or importer violates the provisions of 

Article 21 of these measures, within the 

implementation period, to produce, sell or import 

the electronic products that the contents of 

toxic, harmful substances or elements are 

above the national or industry standard for 

controlling toxic, harmful substances or 


products; or 

(6) An electronic information product importer 

violates the provisions relating import 

administration of these measures to import 

electronic information products. 

Article 23 

Whoever violates the provisions of these 

measures in one of the following circumstances 

shall be punished by the administrations for 

industry and commerce, quality inspection, 

environmental protection and etc. within the 

scope of their own official duties according to 

law. 

33 

Comment



Article 9 Transposition 

1. Member States shall bring into force 

the laws, regulations and 

administrative provisions necessary to 

comply with this Directive before 

This is not applicable now. 


manufacturer or importer violates the provision 

of Article 11 of these measures not to indicate 

the environment-friendly use period of electronic 

information products; 



of Article 13 of these measures not to explicitly 

indicate the names, contents, and which part of 


by the electronic information products, and as 

well as the recyclables of products; or 



of Article 14, Section 2 of these measures not to 

explicitly indicate the contents of packaging 

material of the electronic information products. 

Article 24 

Any governmental employees, who abuse their 

power, practice favouritism and engage in 

irregularities, connive at or shield the activities 

violating the provisions as prescribed in these 

measures, or help the persons who violates the 

provisions as prescribed in these measures to 

escape from the investigation, shall be given 

administrative sanctions in accordance with law. 

Article 26 

These measures shall be interpreted by the MII 

34 

Comment



13 August 2004. They shall 

immediately inform the Commission 

thereof. 

When Member States adopt those 

measures, they shall contain a 

reference to this Directive or be 

accompanied by such a reference on 

the occasion of their official publication. 

The methods of making such a 

reference shall be laid down by the 

Member States. 

2. Member States shall communicate 

to the Commission the text of 

all laws, regulations and administrative 

provisions adopted in the field 

covered by this Directive. 

through the consultation with the NDRC, MOC, 

GAC, SAIC, AQSIQ, and SEPA 

Article 10 Entry into Force Article 27 Entry into Force 

This Directive shall enter into force on 

the day of its publication in the 

Official Journal of the European Union. 

Article 11 Addresses 

This Directive is addressed to the 

Member States. 

Annex 

Applications of lead, mercury, 

cadmium, hexavalent chromium, 

polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) or 

The measures came into 

effect in July 2006 

These measures shall come into effect as of 

March 1, 2007 

There are no specific exclusions/exemptions in 

the Chinese RoHS Directive. 

35 

Comment 

The measures that come into effect at this 

date are only for the labelling and marking, 

certification is still on hold subject to 

Catalogue and standards publications 

See information provided under the title 

Scope above



polybrominated diphenyl ethers 

(PBDE) which are exempted from 

the requirements of Article 4(1) 

1. Mercury in compact fluorescent 

lamps not exceeding 5 mg per lamp. 

. 

2. Mercury in straight fluorescent lamps 

for general purposes not exceeding: 

— halophosphate 10 mg 

— triphosphate with normal lifetime 5 

mg 

— triphosphate with long lifetime 8 mg. 

3. Mercury in straight fluorescent lamps 

for special purposes. 

4. Mercury in other lamps not 

specifically mentioned in this Annex. 

5. Lead in glass of cathode ray tubes, 

electronic components and fluorescent 

tubes. 

6. Lead as an alloying element in steel 

containing up to 0,35 % lead by weight, 

aluminium containing up to 0,4 % lead 

by weight and as a copper alloy 

containing up to 4 % lead by weight 

7. — Lead in high melting temperature 

type solders (i.e. lead-based alloys 

(See M3 Footnote 3) 

. 

36 

Comment



containing 85 % by weight or more 

lead), 

— lead in solders for servers, storage 

and storage array systems, network 

infrastructure equipment for switching, 

signalling, transmission as well as 

network management for 

telecommunications, 

— lead in electronic ceramic parts (e.g. 

piezoelectronic devices). 

8. Cadmium and its compounds in 

electrical contacts and cadmium plating 

except for applications banned under 

Directive 91/338/EEC (1) amending 

Directive 76/769/EEC (2) relating to 

restrictions on the marketing and use 

of 

certain dangerous substances and 

preparations. 

9a. DecaBDE in polymeric 

applications. 

9b. Lead in lead-bronze bearing shells 

and bushes. 

10. Within the procedure referred to in 

Article 7(2), the Commission shall 

evaluate the applications for: 

— Deca BDE, 

— mercury in straight fluorescent 

lamps for special purposes, 



37 

Comment



— lead in solders for servers, storage 

and storage array systems, network 

infrastructure equipment for switching, 

signalling, transmission as well as 

network management for 

telecommunications (with a view to 

setting a specific time limit for this 

exemption), 

and 

— light bulbs, 

as a matter of priority in order to 

establish as soon as possible whether 

these items are to be amended 

accordingly 

11. Lead used in compliant pin 

connector systems. 

12. Lead as a coating material for the 

thermal conduction module c-ring. 

13. Lead and cadmium in optical and 

filter glass 

14. Lead in solders consisting of more 

than two elements for the connection 

between the pins and the package of 

microprocessors with a lead content of 

more than 80 % and less than 85 % by 

weight. 

15. Lead in solders to complete a 

viable electrical connection between 






38 

Comment



semiconductor die and carrier within 

integrated circuit Flip Chip packages 

16. Lead in linear incandescent lamps 

with silicate coated tubes. 

17. Lead halide as radiant agent in 

High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps 

used 

for professional reprography 

applications. 

18. Lead as activator in the fluorescent 

powder (1 % lead by weight or less) of 

discharge lamps when used as sun 

tanning lamps containing phosphors 

such as BSP (BaSi2O5:Pb) as well as 

when used as speciality lamps for 

diazoprinting reprography, lithography, 

insect traps, photochemical and curing 

processes containing phosphors such 

as SMS ((Sr,Ba)2MgSi2O7:Pb). 

19. Lead with PbBiSn-Hg and PbInSn- 

Hg in specific compositions as main 

amalgam and with PbSn-Hg as 

auxiliary amalgam in very compact 

Energy 

Saving Lamps (ESL). 

20. Lead oxide in glass used for 

bonding front and rear substrates of flat 

fluorescent lamps used for Liquid 






39 

Comment



Crystal Displays (LCD). 

21. Lead and cadmium in printing inks 

for the application of enamels on 

borosilicate glass. 

22. Lead as impurity in RIG (rare earth 

iron garnet) Faraday rotators used for 

fibre optic communications systems. 

23. Lead in finishes of fine pitch 

components other than connectors with 

a pitch of 0.65 mm or less with NiFe 

lead frames and lead in finishes of fine 

pitch components other than 

connectors with a pitch of 0.65 mm or 

less with copper lead frames. 

24. Lead in solders for the soldering to 

machined through hole discoidal and 

planar array ceramic multilayer 

capacitors. 

25. Lead oxide in plasma display 

panels (PDP) and surface conduction 

electron emitter displays (SED) used in 

structural elements; notably in the front 

and rear glass dielectric layer, the bus 

electrode, the black stripe, the address 

electrode, the barrier ribs, the seal frit 

(See Footnote 8 ) 

(See Footnote 5) 




40 

Comment 

8 

COMMISSION DECISION of 12 October 2006 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex to Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament 

and of the Council as regards exemptions for applications of lead and cadmium



and frit ring as well as in print pastes. 

26. Lead oxide in the glass envelope of 

Black Light Blue (BLB) lamps. 

27. Lead alloys as solder for 

transducers used in high-powered 

(designated to operate for several 

hours at acoustic power levels of 125 

dB SPL and above) loudspeakers. 

28. Hexavalent chromium in corrosion 

preventive coatings of unpainted metal 

sheetings and fasteners used for 

corrosion protection and 

Electromagnetic Interference Shielding 

in equipment falling under category 

three of Directive 2002/96/EC (IT and 

telecommunications equipment). 

Exemption granted until 1 July 2007.’ 

29. Lead bound in crystal glass as 

defined in Annex I (Categories 

1, 2, 3 and 4) of Council Directive 

69/493/EEC (*). 

___________ 

(*) OJ L 326, 29.12.1969, p. 36. 

Directive as last amended by 

2003 Act of Accession.’ 



(See Footnote 9 ) 

See Footnone 10 

41 

Comment 

9 COMMISSION DECISION of 12 October 2006 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex to Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards 

exemptions for applications of hexavalent chromium (notified under document number C(2006) 4791) (Text with EEA relevance) (2006/692/EC)



There are no labelling 

requirements in the EU 

RoHS Directive. 

Article 11 , 12 and 13 Labelling 

Requirements 

Article 11 

The environment-friendly use period of 

electronic information products is determined by 

the manufacturer or importer. A manufacturer or 

an importer shall indicate the environmentfriendly 

use period on the electronic information 

products they produced or imported. The 

environment-friendly use period should be 

indicated in the user’s manual if the indication 

can’t be made on the product due to the 

limitation of the size or function of the product. 

The styles and methods of the indication 

prescribed in above paragraph shall be 

stipulated uniformly by the MII through the 

consultation with relevant competent 

administration of the State Council. 

The styles and methods of the indication shall 

accord with the national or industrial standards 

for controlling toxic or harmful substances or 


products. 

The corresponding industrial organizations may 

42 

Comment 

The initial requirement, is for a label 

disclosing any of the six identified 

hazardous substances including location 

within the product. 

So there may be a need of three labels or 

marks or indications in the manual: 

1. A label defining if products contain 

any of the six hazardous substances. 

(only required if these are present). 

If they are, the "Environment-Friendly 

Use Period" (EFUP) must also be 

indicated. 

2. A table, in the product documentation, 

must disclose the hazardous 

substances contained in the 

product/component they are present in 

and recycle ability. 

3. Packaging material must be disclosed 

on the outside packaging. 

Standards will be prepared to show how 

this will be done 

10 COMMISSION DECISION of 12 October 2006 amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the Annex to Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards exemptions for 

applications of lead in crystal glass (notified under document number C(2006) 4789) (Text with EEA relevance) (2006/690/EC)



put forward guiding ideas on the environmentfriendly 

use period of electronic information 

products according to the status of technological 

development. 

Article 12 

The MII encourages corresponding industrial 

organizations to submit their guiding ideas on 

the environment-friendly use period of electronic 

information products to the MII. 

Article 13 

A manufacturer or importer of electronic 

information products shall give indications on 

the toxic, harmful substances or elements 

contained in the electronic information products 

they put into the market, such as the names, 

contents, and on which part as well as the 

information about recycle of toxic or hazardous 

substances or elements, and recyclability, etc. 

The indications should be given in the user’s 

manual if they can’t be made on the product due 

to the limitation of the size or function of the 

product. 

The style and method of the indications as 


stipulated uniformly by the MII through 

consultation with the relevant competent 

administration of the State Council. The style 

and method shall accord with the national or 

industrial standard for controlling toxic, harmful 

substances or elements caused by electronic 

43 

Comment 

The administration has adopted at present 

a two step approach. 

Step 1 

(at the beginning of implementation date) 

It is required to label in accordance with 

the above 3 requirements and there are no 

requirements for substituting substances. 

Step 2 

(when products become listed in the 

Catalogue) 

The product must have substitutions or 

alternatively comply with the limits of 

acceptability. 

They must be certified to CCC before 

entering the market



It should be noted that 

packaging material that is to 

be discarded is not included 

in the RoHS but if it is to 

form part or remain with the 

equipment then it must fulfil 

requirements of the RoHS. 


Article 14 Packaging requirements 

An electronic information product manufacturer 

or importer shall use the materials that are nontoxin, 

non-harmful, easy degradation and 

convenient to be recycled according to the 



by electronic information products while 

producing and using the packing for electronic 


An electronic information product manufacturer 

or importer shall give indications of the name of 

the packing material on the packing of the 

electronic information products they produced or 

imported. The indication shall be given in the 

user’s manual if the indication could not be 

given on the packing due to the limitation of the 

size and exterior surface. 

The styles and methods of the indication as 


stipulated uniformly by the MII through the 

consultation with relevant competent 

administration of the State Council. The style 

and method of the indication shall accord with 

the national or industrial standard for controlling 


by electronic information products 

Article 15 Supply Chain 

44 

Comment 

Packaging material must be disclosed on 

the outside packaging and the choice shall 

be based on recycle ability



There are no standards 

requirements in the EU 

RoHS Directive . 

An electronic information product seller shall 

control the purchase channel strictly and shall 

not sell the electronic information products that 

do not accord with the national or industrial 

standard for controlling toxic or harmful 



Article 16 Imports 

Imported electronic information products shall 

accord with the national or industrial standard 

for controlling toxic or harmful substances or 


products. 

Article 17 Standards 

The MII shall draw up the industrial standard for 



products through consultation with the SEPA. 

The MII shall draft the national standard for 



products through the consultation with 

Standardization Administration of China (SAC). 

Article 18, 20 and 21 Information and 

Reporting 

45 

Comment 

The following draft standards have been 

identified as being in the process of being 

developed: 

1) Labelling and Requirements for the 

Prevention of Pollution Caused by 

Electronic Information Products 

2) Test Method for the Restricted 

Substances in Electronic Information 

Products 

3) Chemical Ingredients in Leadless 

Soldering Materials 

4) Four other material standards for 

leadless soldering materials.



Article 18 

The MII shall draw up, readjust the key 

administered catalogue of pollution control of 

electronic information products through 

consultation with the NDRC, the MOC, the 

GAC, the SAIC, the AQSIQ, and the SEPA. 

The key administered catalogue of pollution 

control of electronic information products 

consists of electronic information products lists, 

categories of toxic or harmful substances or 

elements restricted for use and the 

environment-friendly use period. The catalogue 

shall be revised annually according to the 

requirements of the actual circumstances and 

the level of scientific technical development. 

Article 20 

In additional to the rules as prescribed in these 

measures, the electronic information products 

subject to the Catalogue shall also meet the 

requirements for key pollution control as 

prescribed in the Catalogue. 

The electronic information products that are not 

listed in the Catalogue shall accord with other 

provisions in these measures relating to 

pollution control caused by electronic 


Article 21 

According to the actual circumstances of 

industrial development, the MII shall, through 

consultation with the MOC, GAC, SAIC, AQSIQ, 

46 

Comment



This is a self certification 

Directive and it is up to the 

producer, authorised, to 

demonstrate compliance in 

the event of market 

surveillance authorities in a 

Member State requesting it. 

The market surveillance 

system in the EU member 

states is supposed to 

identify non compliance. 

Market Surveillance is 

required from Article 4.1 but 

it does not specifically 

instruct Member States to 

develop a market 

Surveillance Authority as 

other Directives do. 

and the SEPA, publish the implementation 

period in which the electronic information 

products listed in the Catalogue should not 

contain toxic, harmful substances or elements. 

Article 19 Certification 

Certification and Accreditation Administration of 

the People’s Republic of China (CNCA) 

enforces compulsory product certification 

administration on the electronic information 

products listed in the key administered 

catalogue of pollution control of electronic 


Exit-Entry Inspection and Quarantine authorities 

shall carry out port verification and inspection of 

goods received for the imported electronic 

information products in accordance with law. 

The Customs shall go through the clearance 

formalities by the Clearance Form of Entry 

Commodities issued by Exit-Entry Inspection 

and Quarantine authorities. 

Article 7 Market Surveillance 

All competent administrations for information 

industry, development and reformation, 

business affairs, customs, industry and 

commerce, quality inspection, environmental 

protection of the provinces, autonomous 

regions and municipalities directly under the 

Central government shall, within the scope of 

their official duty, administer and supervise 

the pollution control of the manufacture, 

import and sale of electronic information 

products. If necessary, the above 

administrations shall establish regional 

47 

Comment 

This is not a "self-declaration" regulation, 

detailed marking/labelling and material 

disclosure is required. 

Certificates of Compliance from suppliers 

are not acceptable.



cooperative mechanism for pollution control of 

electronic information products, perform 

unified coordination and division of 

responsibility. 

Article 8 Encouragements 

The administrations for information industry of 

the provinces, autonomous regions, and 

municipalities directly under the Central 

government may commend and reward the 

organizations and individuals with outstanding 

achievements in their work and relevant 

activities on the pollution control of electronic 


Article 9 and 10 Manufacturers Design and 

Production 

Article 9 

While designing electronic information products, 

an electronic information product designer shall 

adopt the plan of non toxin, harmless, or lowtoxin, 

low-harm, easy degradation and 

convenient for recycle on the basis of meeting 

the requirements of the technology and 

complying with national standard or industrial 

standard for controlling the toxic and harmful 



Article 10 

While producing or manufacturing electronic 

information products, the manufacturer shall 

accord with national or industrial standards for 

controlling toxic or harmful substances or 

elements of electronic information products, 

48 

Comment 

Although it is not explicit in the EU RoHS 

Directive the obligations of the producer 

with respect to design and manufacture 

and the choice of materials with respect to 

the substances mentioned are similar. 

It will be to the advantage of the producer 

to design and produce products that have 

little or no impact on the environment 

(related to hazardous substances) thus 

reducing their exposure to these 

regulations.



using the materials, technology, and processes 

that have high utilization ratio, are recycled 

easily and good for environmental protection. 

Chapter 4 Supplementary Provisions Article 

25 

Any organization or individual may inform 

against an designer, producer, importer or seller 

who cause pollution of electronic information 

products to the MII or the competent 

administrations for the information industry of 

the provinces, autonomous regions and 

municipalities directly under the Central 

government. 

49 

Comment

Appendix 3 Comparison Table Scopes of the EU and China Regulations 

EU RoHS Scope China RoHS Scope Comment 

Radar Equipment Not in the EU Scope 

1) Large household appliances, 

Not in the China Scope 

(Such as large cooling appliances; refrigerators; 

freezers; other large appliances used for refrigeration, 

conservation and storage of food; washing machines; 

clothes dryers; dish washing machines; cooking; 

electric stoves; electric hot plates; microwaves; other 

large appliances used for cooking and other 

processing of food; electric heating appliances; 

electric radiators; other large appliances for 

heating rooms, beds, seating furniture; electric fans; 

air conditioner appliances; other fanning, exhaust 

ventilation and conditioning equipment) 

Although circuitry for these products is included 

2) Small household appliances 

(Such as vacuum cleaners; carpet sweepers; other 

appliances for cleaning; appliances used for sewing, 

knitting, weaving and other processing for textiles; 

irons and other appliances for ironing, mangling and 

other care of clothing; toasters; fryers; grinders, coffee 

machines and equipment for opening or sealing 

of containers or packages; electric knives; appliances 

for hair-cutting, hair drying, tooth brushing, shaving, 

massage and other body care appliances; clocks, 

watches and equipment for the purpose of measuring, 

indicating or registering time; scales) 

50 

Not in the China Scope 

Circuitry for many of these products is included


3) IT and telecommunications equipment 

(Such as centralised data processing; mainframes; 

minicomputers; printer units; personal computing; 

personal computers, including the CPU, mouse and 

keyboard; laptop computers, including the CPU, 

mouse and keyboard; notebook computers; notepad 

computers; printers; copying equipment; electrical and 

electronic typewriters; pocket and desk calculators; 

other products and equipment for the collection, 

storage, processing, presentation or communication 

of information by electronic means; user terminals and 

systems; facsimile; telex; telephones; pay telephones; 

cordless telephones; cellular telephones; answering 

systems; other products or equipment of transmitting 

sound, images or other information by 

telecommunications) 

Communications Transmission Equipment 

I. Communications Transmitter 

II. Communications Receiver 

III. Microwave Communications Equipment 

Communications Transmission Equipment 

II. Communications Receiver 

III. Microwave Communications Equipment 

IV. Application Products for Satellite 

V. Scatter Communications Equipment 

VI. Communications Navigation Direction Equipment 

VII. Carrier Communications Equipment 

VIII. Optical Communications Equipment 

Communications and Switch Equipment 

I. Switch 

II. User Access Device 

I. Small / Medium Transceiver Broadcasting Station 

II. Telephone Set 

III. Data Communications Equipment 

IV. Communications Electronic Countermeasure Equipment 

Mobile Communications Device 

Mobile Communications Terminal Device 

Communications Equipment Repairing and Other 

Communications Equipment 

Broadcast and Television Equipment Industry Products 

Broadcast and Television Programming, Transmitting, 

Transmission Equipment 

Broadcast and Television Equipment Industry Products 

Broadcast and Television Reception Equipment and 

Equipment 

Application Television Device and Other Broadcast and 

Television Devices 

Computer Industry Products 

Computer Network Facility Industry 

Electronic Computer External Device 

Electronic Computer Associated Products and Materials 

Electronic Computer Application Products 

51 

It appears that within the Chinese listing is 

included Military Equipment which is excluded 

from the EU Scope 

Also many products in the EU scope are not 

included in the communication transmission 

equipment or elsewhere.


4) Consumer equipment 

(Such as radio sets; television sets; video cameras; 

video recorders; hi-fi recorders; audio amplifiers; 

musical instruments; other products or equipment for 

the purpose of recording or reproducing sound or 

images, including signals or other technologies for the 

distribution of sound and image than by 

telecommunications) 

5) Lighting equipment 

Such as luminaires for fluorescent lamps; straight 

fluorescent lamps; compact fluorescent lamps; high 

intensity discharge lamps, including pressure sodium 

lamps and metal halide lamps; low pressure sodium 

lamps; other lighting equipment for the purpose of 

spreading or controlling light) 

Household Electrical and Electronic Products 

Household Electronic Products 

Television, Vidicon, Video Cassette Recorder and 

Laser Compact Disc Player 

Household Electronic Acoustics Appliance 

III. Electric Light Source 

1. High Pressure Sodium Vapor Lamp 

2. Halogen Lamp 

3. Lamp for Car 

4. Fluorescent Lamp 

5. Electricity Saving Lamp 

6. Other 

1. Fluorescence Powder 

i. Colored Fluorescence Powder 

ii. Black and White Fluorescence Powder 

52 

Some other consumer products are included in 

other sections


6) Electrical and electronic tools (with the exception of 

large-scale stationary industrial tools) 

(Such as drills; saws; sewing machines; equipment for 

turning, milling, sanding, grinding, sawing; cutting; 

shearing; drilling; making holes; punching; folding; 

bending or similar processing of wood, metal and 

other materials; tools for riveting, nailing or screwing 

or removing rivets, nails, screws or similar uses; tools 

for welding, soldering or similar use; equipment for 

spraying, spreading, dispersing or other treatment of 

liquid or gaseous substances by other means; 

tools for mowing or other gardening activities) 

Electronic Element Products 

Electronic Device Industry 

Electronic Industry Dedicated Equipment and 

Products 

Electronic Industry Dedicated Equipment 

Electronic Industry Mold and Gear 

Electronic Printed Circuit Board 

Sensing Element and Sensor 

Vacuum Electron Device 

Photoelectric Device and Other Electronic Device 

Semiconductor Discrete Device 

Integrated Circuit 

Electronic Wire and Cable 

Micro and Special Motor 

53 

Some of the Electronic Measuring Instrument may 

be said to be included under this title in the EU 

scope but in general the China Scope does not 

include the EU listing. 

These titles in general represent the components 

that go on to make electrical or electronic 

products such as semiconductors, printed circuit 

boards and others. 

Although these titles are not specifically listed in 

the EU scope these are the core of the products 

and producers would need to ensure the 

concentration values of the components that they 

would be using in the products that are included 

in the EU scope, thus including these components 

in the scope by default. 

Battery Not included in the EU Directive subject to their 

own Directives in the EU


Medical Electronic Device and Apparatus 

Not included in the EU Directive 

7) Toys, leisure and sports equipment 

(Such as electric trains or car racing sets; hand-held 

video game consoles; video games; computers for 

biking, diving, running, rowing, etc.; sports equipment 

with electric or electronic components; coin slot 

machines) 

10) Automatic dispensers 

(Such as automatic dispensers for hot drinks; 

automatic dispensers for hot or cold bottles or cans; 

automatic dispensers for solid products; automatic 

dispensers for money; all appliances which deliver 

automatically all kind of products) 

Fiber Optical, Fiber Optical Cable 

54 

Cables meet the definition of electrical and 

electronic equipment (EEE) under the EU RoHS 

Directive. The difference between electrical and 

fibre optics relates to the material, not the 

function (electrical cables too can be and have 

been used for the transmission of information, 

sound, image etc.). 

Electronic Toy circuit Although not included in the China regulation 

under the title of toys it addresses the circuits and 

it appears not to include sport equipment. 

Video games are in other parts of the scope 

Not included in the China regulation

Appendix 4 Questions from China 

China issues relating to Directive 2002/95/EC on the 

restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances 

in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS) 

I. General 

1. What is the EU authority responsible for explaining RoHS instructions 

(including exemption application)? Who are the responsible persons? 

What are their precise responsibilities? 

Reply: 

European Commission, Environment Directorate General 

Unit G.4 Sustainable Production and Consumption 

Avenue de Beaulieu 5 

B- 1160 Brussels 

Belgium 

Contact persons: 

Head of Unit - Mr Klaus Koegler 

Tel. +32 2 2962379 

E-mail Klaus.Koegler@ec.europa.eu 

Policy officer - Ms Anna Passera 

Tel. +32 2 2995619 

E-mail Anna.Passera@ec.europa.eu 

2 What is the authority responsible for explaining RoHS instructions 

(including exemption application) in all EU member states? Who are the 

responsible persons? What are their precise responsibilities? 

Reply: 

The list of the Member States authorities can be asked to Ms Passera 

(see contact details above).

3 How can Chinese industry get the RoHS related national law documents of 

each EU member state? Can EU provide English version or Chinese 

version for Chinese enterprises? 

Reply: Each Member State has the obligation to transpose the Directive 

into national legislation. For the transposition texts Member States can be 

contacted directly. 

Interested parties can also contact the WTO TBT Enquiry Point in each 

country and request if possible the legislation in English. It is unlikely that 

it will be available in Chinese. 

4 What authorities are responsible for enforcing their RoHS related national 

law of each EU member state? And what are their precise competences? 

Reply: Each Member State has its own market surveillance authority 

European Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of 

Environmental Law (IMPEL) 

IMPEL is an informal network of European regulators concerned with the 

implementation and enforcement of environmental legislation. The network 

is a powerful tool for sharing experience and information on the practical 

application of environmental legislation across Europe. Co-operation 

among practitioners in the fields of inspections, permitting and 

enforcement under the IMPEL network started in 1992. all Member States 

of the European Union, the two acceding countries Bulgaria and Romania, 

the two candidate countries Croatia and Turkey as well as Norway - and 

the European Commission now participate in the network. 

Below is a list of the country organisations. 

Austria 

Mr Dipl. Ing. Armin Heidler 

Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water 

Management 

Department V/1 - Pollution Prevention and Control of Installations 

Stubenbastei 5 

A-1010 Vienna 

Armin.heidler@lebensministerium.gv.at 

56

Belgium 

Mr Jean Pierre Janssens 

Brussels Institute for Environmental Management 

Division of Inspection and Surveillance 

Gulledelle 100 

B-1200 Brussels 

jpj@ibgebim.be 

Bulgaria 

Mrs Slavitza Dobreva 

Head of European Integration Department Ministry of Environment and 

Waters 

67, William Gladstone Street 

BG-1000 Sofia 

Bulgaria 

SlavitzaDobreva@moew.government.bg 

Cyprus 

Mr Nikos Georgiades 

Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment 

Environment Service 

CY-1411 Nicosia 

Cyprus 

ngeorgiades@environment.moa.gov.cy 

Czech Republic 

Ms Lenka Nemcová 

Department for International Co-operation 

Czech Environmental Inspectorate 

CIZP, Na brehu 267 

CS-190 00 Prague 9 

Czech Republic 

nemcova@cizp.cz 

57

Denmark 

Mr Gudmund Nielsen 

Danish EPA 

Strandgade 29 

DK-1401 Copenhagen K 

Denmark 

gni@mst.dk 

Estonia 

Mr Himot Maran 

Estonian Environmental Inspectorate 

Kopli 76 

EE-10416 Tallinn 

Estonia 

himot.maran@kki.ee 

Finland 

Mr Markku Hietamäki 

Ministry of the Environment 

PO Box 35 

FIN-00023 Helsinki 

Finland 

markku.hietamaki@ymparisto.fi 

France 

Ms Annick Bonneville 

Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development 

DPPR/SEI 

Avenue de Segur 20 

F-75302 Paris 07 SP 

France 

annik.bonneville@ecologie.fr 

58

Germany 

Ms Martina Froben 

Federal Ministry of the Environment, 

Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety 

Division ZG III 4 

Alexanderstrasse 3 

D-10178 Berlin 

Martina.Froben@bmu.bund.de 

Greece 

Mr Epaminondas Toleris 

Ministry of Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works 

11 Alexandras Av. 

GR-11473 Athens 

Greece 

eype-ypehode@ath.forthnet.gr 

Hungary 

Mr Pál Varga 

National Inspectorate for Environment and Nature Protection 

Fö utca 44-50 

H-1011 Budapest 

Hungary 

vargap@mail.kvvm.hu 

Ireland 

Ms Valerie Doyle 

Environmental Protection Agency 

PO Box 3000 

Johnstown Castle Estate 

County Wexford, Ireland 

v.doyle@epa.ie 

59

Italy 

Ms Giuliana Gasparini 

Head of Division II - Regional Conventions and Protocols - EU Directives 

and Regulations 

Department for global environment, international and regional Conventions 

Ministry of the Environment and Land Protection 

Directorate for Sustainable Development 

Via Cristoforo Colombo 44 

I-00147 Rome 

Italy 

gasparrini.giuliana@minambiente.it 

Latvia 

Mr Vilis Avotins 

The Ministry of Environmental of the Republic of Latvia 

State Environmental Service 

General Director 

23 Rupniecibas Street 

LV-1045 Riga 

Latvia 

vilis.avotins@vvd.gov.lv 

Lithuania 

Mr Berzinskas Vaclovas 

Agency for Environmental Protection 

Juozapviciaus, 9LT-2600 Vilnius 

Lithuania 

v.berzinskas@aaai.am.lt 

Luxembourg 

Mr Pierre Dornseiffer 

Administration for the Environment 

16, rue Ruppert 

L-2453 Luxembourg 

pierre.dornseiffer@aev.etat.lu 

60

Malta 

Mr Godwin Cassar 

Environment Protection Directorate 

Malta Environment and Planning Authority 

St. Francis Ravelin 

Floriana, Malta 

godwin.cassar@mepa.org.mt 

Netherlands 

Mr Jan Teekens 

Inspectorate of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment 

P.O.Box 16191; IPC 530 

NL-2500 BD The Hague 

The Netherlands 

jan.teekens@minvrom.nl 

Norway 

Mr Erik Forberg 

Norwegian Pollution Control Authority 

PO Box 8100 dep 

N-0032 Oslo 

Norway 

erik.forberg@sft.no 

Poland 

Ms Hanna Jastrzebska 

Chief Inspectorate for Environment 

Wawelska ul. 52/54 

PL-00-922 Warsaw 

Poland 

h.jastrzebska@gios.gov.pl 

61

Portugal 

Mr Antonio Sequeira Ribeiro 

Inspectorate General for the Environment 

Ministry for Towns, Territorial Plannig and Environment 

Rua de "O Século", No 63 

P-1249-033 Lisboa 

aribeiro@ig-amb.pt 

Slovak Republic 

Mr Daniel Geisbacher 

Slovak Inspection of the Environment 

Water Management Inspection Dept. 

Karloveska 2 

SL-842 22 Bratislava 

geisbacher@sizp.sk 

Slovenia 

Ms Tatjana Bernik 

Ministry of Environment, Physical Planning and Energy 

Inspectorate of the RS for Environment, Physical Planning and Energy 

Environmental Inspection 

Dunajska 47 

SI-1000 Ljubljana 

Slovenia 

tatjana.bernik@gov.si 

Spain 

Ms Carmen Canales Canales 

MINISTERIO DE MEDIO AMBIENTE 

C/ Agustín de Betancourt 25 

Primera Planta 

despacho AB-106.1 

28003-MADRID 

Spain 

CCanales@mma.es 

62

Sweden 

Birgitta Larsson 

Swedish Environmental Protection Agency 

SE-10648 Stockholm 

Sweden 

IngaBirgitta.Larsson@naturvardsverket.se 

United Kingdom 

Mr Terry Shears 

Environment Agency 

Rio House, Waterside Drive 

Aztec West, Almondsbury 

UK-BS32 4UD Bristol 

UK 

Terence.shears@environment-agency.gov.uk 

5 Are there any representative offices responsible for RoHS directive 

consulting in China (in Chinese)? If any, how to contact them? 

Reply: There are many organisations such as British Standards Institution 

and others who have offices in China and can provide consultancy 

services related to the EU RoHS legislation and its implementation, but as 

such there are no specific governmental or EU regional offices that will 

provide consultancy services. 

6 Are there any other directives or regulations referred to the electronic and 

electrical products, besides RoHS and WEEE? How are they related to 

each other? 

Reply: There are many Directives that directly or indirectly refer to 

electrical products, the direct ones are: 

Low Voltage Directive (LVD) 

Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (EMC) 

Electrical Equipment for Flammable Atmospheres Directive (ATEX) 

Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) 

End of Life of Vehicles Directive for motor vehicles (ELV) 

63

Energy using Products Directive (EuP) 

EU Regulation concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and 

Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) 

It is not possible to explain the EU regulatory system within the context of 

this question but suffice to say that the regulatory system is based on free 

movement of goods and safety of products within the community therefore 

the basic principles of the New Approach Directives are similar. 

7 Can EU provide technical assistance or technical transfer on environmentfriendly 

materials used to China? 

Reply: This may be possible but it would be subject to EU financing this 

activity. 

8 How does the recalling system operate in EU? For the products put on EU 

market after July 1, 2006, does EU permit enterprises to recall their 

products which contain hazardous substances exceeding the MCVs? How 

long will EU permit the enterprises to recall the product? 

Reply: There is no system of recall in the Directive and in the UK the 

authorities have not introduced it in the legislation. 

9 Are there any cases that enterprises were punished for breaching national 

RoHS law of member states within EU? What is the penalty procedure? 

Reply: No, it is to early yet for this to have happened. Each Member State 

will have their own enforcement, offences and penalty clauses in their own 

legislation. The Directive in Article 8 only mentions that these should be 

effective, proportionate and dissuasive. 

In the UK it shall be the duty of the National Weights and Measures 

Laboratory, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Trade and 

Industry, to enforce these Regulations. 

Various powers of enforcement will be available, including: - 

• Making test purchases. 

• Requesting compliance documentation, inspecting processes and 

performing analytical tests. 

• Issuing of a compliance notice requiring certain action to be taken. 

64

Offences and Penalties The RoHS Regulations introduce the following 

offences: 

i. Contravening or failing to comply with the prohibition on 

hazardous substances in the RoHS Regulations could result in 

those held responsible facing a fine up to the statutory maximum 

(currently £5,000) on summary conviction or an unlimited fine on 

conviction on indictment. 

ii. Those failing to submit compliance documentation at the request 

of the enforcement authority may be liable to a fine up to level 

five on the standard scale (currently £5,000) 

10 When there are conflicts in test results between different test labs of EU for 

the same batch of products, how to deal with this case? 

Reply: There are many ways in which test can be carried out to determine 

the content of substances some of the tests are considered more accurate 

than others. If the case is that the conflict arises because of this then the 

more accurate test will be the one accepted. 

11 How do EU member states transpose RoHS directive to national laws? 

How is the law’s enforcement? And what are the differences among the 

laws and the enforcement? 

Reply: It is not possible to explain the regulatory system of each Member 

State, in general the adoption and transposition of EU Directives is made 

by secondary legislation by the government department responsible in 

Member State. In the case of the UK the Department of Trade and 

Industry was responsible for the transposition of the Directive. The law is 

enforced in the UK by National Weights and Measures Laboratory. 

II. Definitions 

12. If equipment seller A in china sells non-environmental friendly equipments 

to outside EU, (for example, dealer B in Hong Kong), then dealer B sells 

these equipments to client C in EU, will seller A take legal responsibilities? 

Also, what is the meaning of “professional basis” in subpoint (iii) of 

Producer? 

65

Reply: In all cases the Producer is responsible. The producer must be a 

legal entity in the European Union. 

Producer 

means any person who, irrespective of the selling technique used, 

including by means of distance communication 

(i) manufactures and sells electrical and electronic equipment under his 

own brand; 

(ii) resells under his own brand equipment produced by other suppliers, a 

reseller not being regarded as the ‘producer’ if the brand of the producer 

appears on the equipment, as provided for in subpoint (i); 

or 

(iii) imports or exports electrical and electronic equipment on a 

professional basis into a Member State. 

Professional basis means that it is the occupation of the person or 

organisation to be involved in import or export activities. 

13. Please clarify whether the following situations are included in “put on 

market”? 

a) arrive at the custom, b) be transported to the storehouses of EU, c) be 

transported to the dealer, d) on sale 

Reply: 

"Put on the market" is not defined in the Regulations or in the Directive, 

but it is being interpreted in the same way as the term ‘placing on the 

market’, which is defined in the European Commission’s “Guide to the 

implementation of directives based on the New Approach and the Global 

Approach”4 (commonly referred to as the “Blue Book”). This says that 

‘placing on the market’ is the initial action of making a product available for 

the first time on the Community market, with a view to distribution or use 

in the Community. 

A product is placed on the Community market when it is made available 

for the first time. This is considered to take place when a product is 

transferred from the stage of manufacture with the intention of distribution 

or use on the Community market. Thus, imports for own use are also 

considered as being placed on the market at the moment they enter the 

66

Community. Moreover, the concept of placing on the market refers to each 

individual product, not to a type of product, and whether it was 

manufactured as an individual unit or in a series. 

The product is considered to be transferred either when the physical 

hand-over or the transfer of ownership has taken place. This transfer can 

be for payment or free of charge, and it can be based on any type of legal 

instrument. Thus, a transfer of a product is considered to have taken place, 

for instance, in the circumstances of sale, loan, hire, leasing and gift. 

14. For products relayed in EU(EU member state just play the role as relay 

warehouse), do such products need to comply with RoHS? 

Reply: See reply above “Put in the Market”, but as long as these are not 

intended to be marketed in the EU they need not comply with the RoHS. 

15. In RoHS Directive, there is a definition “homogenous materials”. But it is 

difficult for some IT products to be made from homogeneous materials, for 

instance, PCB, plating materials, etc. How to deal with such cases? Could 

EU gives a practical guide for getting homogeneous materials? 

Reply: 

The material will be either homogeneous or not in accordance with the 

explanation below. 

Homogeneous material’ means a material that cannot be mechanically 

disjointed into different materials. 

The term ‘homogeneous’ is understood as "of uniform composition 

throughout", so examples of "homogeneous materials" would be individual 

types of plastics, ceramics, glass, metals, alloys, paper, board, resins and 

coatings. 

The term ‘mechanically disjointed’ means that the materials can, in 

principle, be separated by mechanical actions such as unscrewing, cutting, 

crushing, grinding and abrasive processes. 

III. Scope and Product category 

16. Are the labels on the electronic and electrical products subject to the 

MCVs of ROHS Directive? 

Reply: Yes, if the label is to be permanently affixed to the product. 

67

17. Is the printing ink on electrical wire tested separately as homogeneous 

material? 

Reply: Yes. 

18. Battery industry thinks UPS is excluded from the scope of EU RoHS 

Directive. But many environmental consultants consider that many 

electronic components of UPS are electrical and electronic equipment. Is 

UPS included in the scope of EU ROHS Directive? Which category does it 

fall belong to? 

Reply: NWML FAQs page states “The present Commission view is that 

cables both included within EEE and sold separately do fall within RoHS. 

The DTI of the UK are in discussion with the commission over this but until 

there is a change the Commission view stands.” 

IV. Information requirements and Standards 

19. What criterion is used for testing and assessing for market monitoring 

sample survey by EU? How can the companies assure their products 

comply with the requirements of EU RoHS Directive? 

Reply: The EU Member States has produced a Guidance document 

“RoHS Enforcement 

Guidance Document Version 1 – issued May 2006” 

This Guidance Document has been developed through discussions within 

the “EU RoHS Enforcement Authorities Informal Network”. 

It should be noted that the document is informative and advisory, but has 

no legal authority. 

Individual Member State RoHS enforcement authorities are bound by their 

own national legal structures and can only apply this guidance within the 

confines of those structures. 

It is recommended that this document be studied by interested parties, the 

document can be downloaded in English language from the following URL: 

http://www.rohs.gov.uk/Docs/Links/RoHS%20Enforcement%20Guidance% 

20Document%20-%20v.1%20May%202006.pdf 

68

20. For the devices which are made from mixed exemption materials and nonexemption 

materials and hard to disjoint mechanically, how to disassemble 

and assess the compliance with RoHS Directive? 

Reply: Please see reply to Section II Question 4. 

V. Related technologic problems 

21. Either “measuring unit” or “homogenous material” has not been defined in 

RoHS Directive. A typical electronic product is made up of hundreds of 

individual components. Each of these components, in turn, has a unique 

mix of materials that makes up its composition. Usually these materials are 

heterogeneous; they are made of several different homogenous materials. 

Therefore, a typical electronic product may be made up of thousands of 

homogeneous materials. Due to the limits of size, time and disjoint 

techniques, it is impossible to get all of the homogenous materials. 

Furthermore some available homogeneous materials are too few to 

undertake the wet chemical analysis. RoHS has brought all of the above 

problems for the industry, how should the industry deal with this situation? 

Reply: Once again reference is made to the reply in Section II Question 4 

22. PBBs and PBDEs which are restricted by RoHS Directive contain more 

than 2 substances. There are 418 isomeric compounds. It is impossible to 

trace the source of all the 418 isometric compounds. Currently, most data 

used in PBBs and PBDEs assessing reports are not accurate. As a matter 

of fact, commercial used PBBs and PBDEs are only penta-BDE, octa-BDE 

and deca-BDE. Here we refer to what Eco-Label Textiles stipulate. 

According to the requirements of Eco-Label Textiles penta-BDE and octa- 

BDE are restricted, deca-BDE is under evaluation. So if only penta-BDE 

and octa-BDE of EEE have been restricted in RoHS Directive, the goal 

would be achieved as well. In that case, the Directive is clear, simple, 

practical and economical. 

Reply: This appears to be a statement and not a question, but at present 

we would not have a view on this matter. 

69

23. At present, the hexavalent chromium content in metal plating cannot be 

measured. Therefore, it is impossible to judge whether the content 

exceeds the up limit of 1000ppm. Current manufacturing technique cannot 

purify the tervalent chromium plating without the existence of hexavalent 

chromium. Therefore, hexavalent chromium can be found in many 

tervalent choromium plated hardwares, but it is hard to judge whether the 

content exceed the limit of 1000ppm. In this case, we hope that the criteria 

of hexavalent chromium content in metal plating can be modified as 

“purposely use hexavalent chromium for metal plating or not”. If hexavalent 

chromium hexavalent chromium is deliberately used in metal plating, the 

hexavalent chromium of metal plating is judged to exceed the limit 

(1000pm). If hexavalent chromium used in metal plating is not deliberate 

(Oxyenation process of tervalent chromium produces hexavalent 

chromium.), it is acceptable. It is a reasonable principle, because the 

hexavalent chromium content in metal plating is generally low in this case. 

Reply: This appears to be a statement and not a question, but at present 

we do not have a view on this matter. 

VI. Compliance and Penalty 

24. How will ROHS enforcement be implemented in EU? Will all EU member 

states take uniform monitoring procedure? If the products not complying 

with EU RoHS Directive are found in EU market by the market surveillance, 

what will the responsibility and punishment be imposed on the EU 

importers, Chinese exporters and manufacturer respectively? 

Reply: With respect to enforcement guidance please see the reply in 

Section IV Question 1. 

The responsibility for market enforcement is in each Member State market 

authority and is based on the legislation as transposed in each Member 

State for the section regarding Enforcement, Offences and Fines. 

Then any administrative sanctions will be made on the Producer. Please 

see the reply to Section II Question 1. 

70

25. For the products not complying with RoHS Directive found in EU, how will 

EU implement the relevant reporting procedure? How does Chinese 

industry track and obtain relevant information conveniently? In which way 

can Chinese enterprises know related requirements and changes of EU 

RoHS Directive effectively? 

Reply: If products are found to be non-compliant the producer will be 

informed by the enforcement body. It is the producer’s responsibility to 

ensure continuing compliance. 

26. Some importers purchase products from other areas through transit trade 

etc. and export them to EU; whereas Chinese producers are not informed. 

If these products are accused in EU for not complying with RoHS 

requirements, what is the responsibility for the Chinese producer? Should 

the importers take all the responsibilities? Will EU carry on the notification 

to the importers? 

Reply: Reference is made to the previous replies regarding responsibility 

for non compliance, it is always on the producer. 

In the UK the defence of ‘due diligence’ is available where a person can 

show he took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid 

committing an offence. 

This may include reference to an act or default or information given by a 

third party, in which case it must be accompanied by information 

identifying the third party, or that information in possession of the person 

making the claim. The Regulations also provide for the ‘liability of persons 

other than the principle offender’ and allow a third party to be prosecuted 

as though they had committed the offence. 

Where an offence by a corporate body is shown to have been committed 

with the consent, connivance or through the neglect of any director, 

manager or similar officer of the corporate body, they could be regarded as 

having committed the offence as well as the corporate body. 

71

27. Will EU accept the RoHS test report from Chinese laboratories (such as 

the test laboratories of inspection and quarantine)? If the products reported 

eligible by Chinese laboratory are judged as not complying with EU ROHS 

by EU examination institutions, how would EU deal with them? And what is 

responsibility for manufacturers of the relevant products? Can these 

manufacturers avoid punishment? 

Reply: Please see other replies with respect to responsibility of the 

producer. There is no specific manner to show compliance, it is up to the 

producer how he does this so testing in China would be acceptable as 

testing anywhere else in the world, what is important is that the correct 

tests be done. 

28. If the enterprise has already earnestly fulfilled its responsibility (duty 

exemption due diligence), including self declaration, necessary testing and 

the establishment of qualified supply chain management system, and so 

on, but due to the uncertainty of assessment and evaluation, in addition to 

the extensive homogeneous materials applied for products, the assessing 

process may not cover all the aspects. The products are still claimed as 

not complying with RoHS Directive. In this case, whether EU can leniently 

punish or exempt the punishment? 

Reply: As stated before punishment is up to the penalties established in 

each Member State legislation. Their enforcement is up to each Member 

State authority appointed . 

29. For Route A and Route B mentioned in RoHS Enforcement Guidance, 

what evidences should be provided for demonstrating the compliance with 

EU RoHS? How do the RoHS enforcement bodies evaluate the evidences 

submitted by the producer? And What procedure and criterion will be 

followed by the RoHS enforcement body of each member state of EU for 

reviewing the evidences? 

Reply: Since there is no specific mandatory methodology to follow it will 

be up to the producer to decide based on the Guidance provided what 

approach they will take, it will then be up to the market surveillance to 

demonstrate non compliance by the use a particular approach. The 

72

criterion is that provided by the Guidance document and any other future 

document that they may provide. 

30. If the manufacturer has established the process management for 

Hazardous Substances according to QC 080000, can it be used as the 

evidence for the enforcement of route A? 

Reply: If a manufacturer has a system in place according to QC080000 

he should have evidence that can be presented which will cover the areas 

highlighted in route A of the Enforcement Guidance Document 

31. When the products arrive in EU markets, is the industry obligated to offer 

the compliance documents? 

Reply: It is the responsibility of the producer to ensure that they have all 

the relevant documentation to be able to demonstrate to the market 

surveillance authority of the country where he is placing the product in the 

market that the product is compliant with the legislation. 

This is in the event that the authority undertakes market surveillance of 

that equipment so documentation should always be held in a Member 

State and be available for up to 4 years from when the product was placed 

on the market. 

VII. Relative problems of implementing RoHS directive 

32. There are many exemption applications from the enterprises in EU 

websites, and also the exemption documents are shipped with the product. 

What procedures should be followed for applying the exemptions? What is 

the criterion for the exemption? 

Reply: The procedure for exemption is a long one, Article 5(1)(b) of the 

Directive provides that materials and components can be exempted from 

the substances restrictions contained in Article 4(1) if their elimination or 

substitution via design changes or materials and components which do not 

require any of the material or substances refer to therein is technically 

scientifically impractical, or where the negative environmental, health 

and/or consumer safety impacts caused by substitution outweigh the 

environmental, health and/or consumer safety benefits thereof. 

73

On the basis of this provision the European Commission receives from 

industry request for applications to be exempted from the requirements of 

the Directive, against this background the European Commission contracts 

technical assistance from relevant organisations to assess the application 

for exemption. 

33. For the products exported to EU, does the RoHS compliance report need 

to be showed only at customs clearance? How do the EU customs review 

the compliance reports? Should the producer keep the compliance report 

until the end of the product’s life cycle? 

Reply: The EU Customs Union checks randomly equipment and do not 

expect any certification usually they look for CE marking or in this case the 

actual placement on the market means compliance with the RoHS. 

The process is that the Customs authorities can stop the product from 

entering the country for 72 hours, during that period Customs advises the 

market surveillance authority of this and it is up to them to deal with the 

matter of compliance, if they do not attend to this matter within the 72 

hours then the equipment is released on to the market without further 

checks. 

74

Appendix 5 Questions from the EU 

EU issues relating to the Chinese Administration on 

the control of pollution caused by electronic 

information products" (ACPEIP) 

I. General 

Q1. Who are the responsible Chinese authorities and contact persons of each 

of the Ministries involved and their precise competences under ACPEIP? 

A: In order to implement China ACPIEP smoothly, a ministry-level working 

group has been set up to coordinate within seven Ministries of China and 

solve the important affairs and problems of implementing ACPIEP. The 

working group has set up an office under the economy running department of 

Chinese Ministry Industry Information(MII), which has the responsibility for 

coordinating and solving problems of implementing CHINA ACPIEP, and the 

contacting persons are: Mr. Lei Wen, Mr. Yang Meng and Ms. Lu Chunyang,. 

Further clarification and additional Comments 

Implementation of the ACPEIP 

• Office and leading group for the coordination of work on the control of 

pollution caused by EIP: This is a ministry-level working group responsible 

for coordination within the seven ministries implementing the ACPEIP. The 

office is under the economic department of the MII, contact persons: Mr 

Lei Wen; Mr Yang Meng and Ms Lu Chunyang 11 

Standards 

• Setting national standards: Standardisation Administration of the PRC 

(SAC) and MII 

• Setting standards relating to discharge of polluting substances in EIP – 

State Environment Protection Administration 12 

11 

MOFCOM answers to questions on ACPEIP 

12 

MII website: "Implementation and enforcement of the ACPEIP will strengthen environmental 

protection in the EIP industry" [Chinese], 14/04/2006, 


75

• Publication and distribution of standards – China Electronics 

Standardisation Institute (CESI(authorised by MII) 13 

Regulation and implementation of the CCC 

• Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of 

China (CNCA) 

Market surveillance: According to their respective competences 

• MII 

• National Development and Reform Commission 

• Ministry of Commerce 

• General Administration of Customs 

• State administration for Industry and Commerce 

• General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine 

(AQSIQ) 

• State Environment Protection Administration 

II. Scope and catalogue 

Q2. Which products are covered by the electronic information products 

categories under Article 3(1) and where is this information readily available for 

foreign industry to consult in English? 

A: After China ACPIEP was published, MII had published a classification 

document called “Classification comment on electronic information products” 

corresponding to the applicable scope of the China ACPIEP. The 

classification document can be regarded as the catalogue of electronic 

information products, which are prepared on the basis of classification of 

electronic information industry and affirmed by national Statistical Department 

of China. Now, this classification document of electronic information products 

had been published on the website of China MII, you can access the 

classification document by the following URLS: 


13 

CESI website: http://www.cesi.cn/www/en/MAIN%20BUSINESS/standardization.htm 

76

and there is no official English version for this classification document 

available for consultation at present. 

Q3. To what extent are medical devices, monitoring and control instruments 

(category 8 and 9 of Annex IA of the RoHS Directive), large-scale stationary 

industrial tools, packaging and batteries included? 

A: Please see the detail of the classification document for electronic 

information products. It can be accessed on the following URL: 


Medical devices: corresponding to the medical devices classification 

Monitoring and control instruments: 

Refer to the instrument classification 

Large-scale stationary industrial tools: 

Refer to the classification of application equipment of electronic industry 

The battery: 

Refer to the classification of the battery. 

The packages are not included by ACPIEP 

Q4. We would like to receive further clarification of the so-called 60% rule. A 

non-covered product is subject to the ACPEIP if it includes a covered product 

that is more than 60% of the value of the larger non-covered product. This rule 

would have considerable effect on products from the capital goods industry. 

A: The so-called 60% rule is the general judgment method for judging product 

category in the industry. If the value of the part utilizing electronic information 

technology in a product exceeds 60% more of the whole value of the product, 

the product can be regarded as electronic information product. However, 

whether a product can be judged as electronic information product or not will 

be finally determined on the basis of the classification document of electronic 


Q5. White household electronic appliance (refrigerators, washing machines, air 

conditioners) are outside the scope of the ACPEIP although some of their 

components are electronic information products. To which requirements 

77

should those components comply? Are small household electronic appliances 

covered by ACPEIP (microwave oven, steam station, food processors…)? 

A: These components should comply with requirement of ACPEIP if sold 

separately in the market. Small household electronic appliance will be also 

judged according to the classification document of electronic information 

products. 

Q6. What is the difference in the requirements as regards business-tobusiness 

and business-to-consumer requirements? 

A: Business-to-business refer to the cases which the upstream manufacturer 

manufacture the products for the downstream the manufacturers, which will 

be not for sale in the market. 

Business-to-consumer refer to the cases which the manufacturer 

manufactures the products, which will be for sale in the market. 

There is no marking requirement for components in Business-to-business 

cases and there is marking requirements for components in Business-toconsumer 

cases. 

Q7. How are replacement parts to be treated? Do we understand that 

replacement parts will have to bear the same general requirement as products 

(e.g. marking…)? 

A: The replacement parts and the upgrading parts will not be subject to the 

marking requirement. 

Q8. Are exported products from China and parts imported for exports from 

China treated by ACPIEP? 

A: The exported products from China and the parts imported for exports from 

China are excluded from ACPIEP. 

Q9. What is the exact interpretation under Article 13 which refers to "launched 

or put on the market" in China? 

78

A: "put on the market" refer to the sale, including from manufacturers to the 

distributors , consumers and users. 

Q10. Do prototypes and models for R&D, experiments and testing require 

marking of names of toxic and hazardous substances, environmental-friendly 

use period and recyclability? 

A: No. The prototypes and models for R&D, experiments and testing are used 

for exhibition, experiments and R&D, because they are not involved in 

distribution or "put on the market", no marking is needed. 

Q11. Which selection procedures and criteria are in place for the listing of 

new electronic information products in the catalogue? How long will be the 

transitional period allowing industry to comply? 

A: According to the “Administration on the statistics of electronic information 

products” which is under revision, MII will amend the category document for 

electronic information products. If a new product is involved in the category, a 

transitional period will be half a year or more. 

Q12. Do we understand that only products that are listed in the catalogue will 

be subject to the requirements of ACPEIP? Do we understand that unless 

specifically mentioned in the catalogue, a product and/or its components is not 

subject to the requirements of ACPEIP? 

A: (1) Yes. (2) Yes 

79

Q13. What is the expected implementation period for products to be listed in 

the catalogue? How often will the catalogue be updated? How will the 

catalogue be harmonized and coherent with the under the EU RoHS Directive? 

Do we understand that products for which specific applications of the 

hazardous substances are exempted are not listed in the catalogue? 

A: The Products listed in the catalogue will not include the product containing 

EU RoHS exempted applications, whose concentration value of hazardous 

substances are below the MCV or which realize the alternation for Hazardous 

substances. The Catalogue will be gradually added and updated step by step. 

Once a product being evaluated ok, it will be listed in the catalogue. There is 

no time limit for the catalogue updating. If the Product is not listed in the 

catalogue, it means the product is exempted. 

Q14. Which information will contain the catalogue as regards toxic and 

harmful substances and standards? 

A: According to “the rule of catalogue development”, we will notify the 

products catalogue in advance, including public display and notify the related 

information to WTO. 

Q15. Will the maximum concentration values foreseen for the six toxic and 

harmful substances: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, 

polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers be consistent 

with those of the EU RoHS Directive? Do we understand that the maximum 

concentration values foreseen for the six toxic and harmful substances: lead, 

mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls and 

polybrominated diphenyl ethers, opposite to EU-RoHS, are further defined as 

follows: 

80

Classification 

EIP - A 

EIP - B 

EIP - C 

Definition 

Homogeneous materials in 

EIP 

Plating material in 

components of EIP 

Small compounds in EIP 

which is less than or equal 4 

mm 3 Small compounds in EIP 

which is less than or equal 4 

mm and can ’ t be 

disassembled anymore 

under existing condition. 

3 and can ’ t be 

disassembled anymore 

under existing condition. 

Limits (Unit: weight percent wt%) 

Pb, Hg, Cr 6+ Pb, Hg, Cr , PBB and PBDE (excluding 

DecaBDE) can’t exceed 0.1% in 

homogeneous materials and Cd can’t 

exceed 0.01% 

6+ , PBB and PBDE (excluding 



exceed 0.01% 

Pb, Hg, Cd and Cr6+ Pb, Hg, Cd and Cr can’t be added 

intentionally 

6+ can’t be added 

intentionally 

Pb, Hg, Cr6+ Pb, Hg, Cr , PBB and PBDE (excluding 



exceed 0.01% 

6+ , PBB and PBDE (excluding 



exceed 0.01% 

A: Maximum concentration values of ACPIEP are consistent with those of the 

EU RoHS Directive basically. See the industrial standard SJ/T 11364-2006 

“Requirements for Concentration Limits for Certain Hazardous Substances in 

Electronic Information Products”. 

Q16. Are the Chinese authorities striving for exemptions to the foreseen 

substance bans? Are such exemptions identical to the exemptions granted 

under EU RoHS? 

A: ACPIEP adopt the mode of “catalogue management” on the control of 

hazardous substances, which is different from EU-RoHS, and ACPIEP 

propose the “Key management catalogue of electronic information products”, 

and it is empty initially. As time goes by, some “feasible both in technology 

and economics” products that implement the substitute of hazardous 

substances will be involved in the “Key management catalogue of electronic 

information products”. If the Products are not involved in the catalogue, it 

means the products are exempted temporarily. 

Q17. Are the Chinese Authorities striving to make the entire scope as close 

as possible? 

A: ACPEIP is a ministry-level department regulation, only used for electronic 


81

Q18. Do you confirm that ACPEIP will not apply on batteries in line with EU- 

RoHS? 

A: The batteries are not included in EU RoHS , but EU has their special 

batteries directive. In China, batteries belong to electronic information 

products, so batteries are restricted by ACPEIP. 

III. Information requirements and Standards 

Q19. What are the exact information, labelling or marking requirements 

(required content) to inform consumers on the name and content of the toxic 

and harmful substances and recyclability upon entry into force on 1 March 

2007 as regards the electronic information products? For example, if none of 

the listed substances would be present in the final product, what are 

producers supposed to declare? Would products that bear the necessary EU 

labels be presumed to comply with ACPEIP? What is the relevance for 

consumers marking the place of origin? 

A: When ACPEIP take effect on 1 March 2007, all the electronic information 

products should declare the related hazardous substances, Environment 

friendly use period, recyclable and etc. Please see the detail of the standard: 

SJ/T11363-2006 Marking for the Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic 

Information Products” 

ACPEIP is different from EU-RoHS, so the products with EU RoHS compliant 

labels are not always compliant with ACPEIP. There is no requirement for the 

marking the place of origin from ACPEIP published on February 28, 2006. 

Q20. What does the term “recyclable” mean? Does it reference a minimum 

% of weight is required to be recyclable? Is the product required to be 

recycled within the territory of China? 

A: On the “recyclable”, ACPEIP only demand the marking that whether the 

product is recyclable and the product is not required to be recycled within the 

territory of China. 

82

Q21. What does the term “recyclable” mean? Does it reference a minimum 

% of weight is required to be recyclable? Is the product required to be 

recycled within the territory of China? 

A: “recyclable” denotes the electronic information product can be recycled in 

different weight percent. ACPIEP only requires recycle labels on the 

electronic information products. 

Q22. Where are labels supposed to be put: On the product? On the 

packaging? On accompanying documentation? On custom clearance 

document? 

A: The labels can be put on the products or instruction manual. If the 

maximum surface of the product is larger than or equal to 5x10 3 mm 2 and the 

products have regular shapes, the labels should be put on the products. If not, 

labels can be described on the instruction manual of the product. Also the 

label on the product should be put on the products obviously, such as the 

front, the side or the back with functional button. If the marking can not be 

labeled obviously, the marking should be labeled on the parts so that the 

customers can find it obviously. 

Q23. Which marking standards are already in place and where is this 

information readily available for foreign industry to consult in English and 

which one currently are in preparation? Are markings required on both 

products and on components and parts? 

A: There is only one standard published, SJ/T 11363-2006 “Marking for 

control of pollution caused by electronic information products”, which is 

developed for ACPIEP. There is no official English version. 

According to ACPIEP, The products, components and parts should be labeled. 

And for “Business to Business”, the label is not necessary for the components 

and the part, and the related information should be transferred to the product 

manufacturer, but for “Business to Consumer”, the labels are necessary for 

components and parts. 

83

Q24. What exactly is the definition of the environment-friendly use period, 

how should it be indicated and what is the relation with the product's safe use 

period? How could the environment-friendly use period be established? What 

if the environment-friendly use period exceeds the safe use period? 

A:“Environment-friendly use period” means the environmental safety period, 

which means the period in which the hazardous substances could not make 

environment polluted, or hurt people’s health or wealth. 

“Environment-friendly use period” is different from “safety-friendly use period”, 

the “environment-friendly use period” is not determined by electrical safety or 

Electromagnetic safety. The period time may be same, and also may be 

different. It does not matter that “Environment-friendly use period” is longer 

than “safety-friendly use period”. 

Q25. What are the standards and procedures for CCC certification and how 

do they interact with the safety certification required. Which notified body will 

deliver the certificates? 

A: According to ACPIEP, the products listed in “The Key Management 

Catalogue of Electronic Information Products” are subject to CCC for RoHS. 

The key management catalogue has not been published and the related CCC 

procedures for RoHS are under consideration. 

If the Products subject to CCC catalogue for safety are placed into the key 

management catalogue, the products will be also subject to the CCC 

requirement for ROHS. 

Q26. What are the national standard testing methods and procedures for the 

concentration of toxic substances in products and how do they relate to 

international standards? 

A: There is no national standard, and the industrial standard developed for 

ACPIEP is the standard SJ/T 11365-2006 “Testing Methods for Regulated 

84

Substances in EIPs”, which refer to the 111/54/CDV document of 

IEC/TC111/WG3. 

Q27. How many industry standards for the prevention and control of pollution 

by electronic information products have been issued and where is this 

information readily available for foreign industry to consult in English? 

A: The following industrial standards have been published. 

No. 

1 

2 

3 

Standard No. 

85 

Name or standard 

SJ/T 11363-2006 Marking for the Control of Pollution Caused by 

EIPs 

SJ/T 11364-2006 Requirements for Concentration Limits for Certain 

Hazardous Substances in EIPs 

SJ/T 11365-2006 Testing Methods for Hazardous Substances in 

EIPs 

There are no corresponding official English versions. 

Q28. Are testing methods and standards in place for toxic and hazardous 

substances? 

A: The industrial standard SJ/T 11365 “Testing Methods for Regulated 

Substances in EIPs” developed for ACPIEP has been published. 

Q29. How can foreign industry representatives participate and cooperate in 

the formulation of industry standards? 

A: The foreign enterprises registered within China can make application for 

joining the standard working group of MII. Once becoming a member of 

working group, the foreign enterprises can participate in the development of 

the related industrial standards. 

Q30. To what extent will the sectoral and national standards on the control of 

harmful substances in electronic information products as referred to in Article 

17 affect the waste treatment aspects (recycling, disposal and reuse after the

products have been discarded)? 

A: ACPIEP is only concerned with the control of hazardous substances in 

EIPs, but not related with the waste treatment aspects (recycling, disposal and 

reuse after the products have been discarded). 

Q31. What is the difference between industry, enterprise and national 

standards and where could we find an overview of the various standards 

issued and in preparation? 

A: Generally speaking, the enterprise standards are stricter than industry 

standards and the industry standards are stricter than national standards. 

Before national standards are published, the enterprises can use industry 

standards. The industry standards will be abolished automatically after the 

related national standards are published. 

The related national standard information can be accessed by the following 

URL: http://www.sac.gov.cn/stand/standContent.asp 

Q32. To what extend is China proposing new standards to the New Work 

Item Proposals in the IEC when standards are lacking instead of developing 

its own new national standards. 

A: Whether China draft new industrial standards or not will be based the 

needs of the industry, the market and etc. 

IV. Compliance and market surveillance 

Q33. Which products are subject to the mandatory China Compulsory 

Certification (CCC) scheme by the under Article 18 and which authority will 

deliver the certificates? 

A: According to ACPIEP, only the products listed in “The Key Management 

Catalogue” are subject to CCC for ROHS. The CCC certification bodies will 

be responsible for delivering CCC certificate, which will be designated by 

Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of 

China (CNCA). 

86

Q34. Will exclusively the 17 Chinese laboratories be accredited for testing or 

are foreign laboratories accredited as well which would create less obstacles 

for exporters to China. 

A: When ACPIEP come into force on March 1, 2007, the enterprises will not 

be forced to test their products and no test labs will be appointed. 

Q35. Which EU notification and accreditation bodies could carry out a 

certification and would this certificate be acknowledged by the Chinese 

Authorities? Which conformity assessment procedures are in place? 

A: The related procedures of CCC for RoHS are under consideration. 

Q36. What are the additional costs generated by the CCC scheme and for 

which period is the certificate valid? 

A: The related procedures of CCC for ROHS are under consideration. 

Q37. To achieve further harmonization between EU and China in this field 

the mandatory CCC scheme as a first level of evidence of compliance could 

be replaced by a self-declaration by the manufacturer so as to lower the cost 

and facilitate trade. This practice will be more beneficial to all operators in the 

supply chain. 

A: The related procedures of CCC for ROHS are under consideration. 

Q38. Should a copy of the CCC certificate be attached to each product? 

A: According to the management requirement of CCC certification, a copy of 

the CCC certificate with the product is not required. 

Q39. Under Article 19 a delivery inspection is envisaged for every imported 

shipment in the form of a cargo clearance certificate, why are foreign products 

subject to an extended scrutiny compared to domestic products? 

87

A: “A cargo clearance certificate” is a certificate for imported goods issued by 

China CIQ, which certify that the products comply with the related 

requirements for imported products. China CIQ will inspect the imported 

commodities according to the related regulations or laws in China. 

The imported or domestic electronic information Products put on the market 

after March 1, 2007, will be subject to “After market management” 

Q40. Which Authorities will carry out the market surveillance? Will there be 

regional differences? 

A: Ministry of Information Industry, National Development and Reform 

Commission, Ministry of Commerce, PRC, The General Administration of 

Customs, State Administration For Industry & Commerce, General 

Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the 

People's Republic of China and State Environment Protection Administration 

will implement management and surveillance on the pollution control of EIPs 

according to respective responsibility. 

There will be no regional differences. 

88

Appendix 6 Certification Scheme from BSI in the UK 

The BSI Kitemark Certification Scheme 

RoHS Kitemark follows: 

1) Assessments are carried out using EIA/ECCB-954 and BSI Protocol 

2) strict operating guidelines laid down within BSI that ensure that the 

process of Kitemark licensing a company is always fair and 

consistent. 

3) A process of auditing of companies and independent chemical 

analysis of randomly selected samples. Any deficiencies found during 

the audit are highlighted to the licensee so they can make any 

necessary corrective actions required to maintain their RoHS 

compliance. 

4) BSI is as a member of the UK RoHS Conformity Assessment Group 

(URCAG), therefore ensure that the Kitemark meets the requirements 

of the recently published National Weights and Measures Laboratory 

(NWML) Enforcement Paper. 

QC 080000 * IECQ HSPM * CEIQ HSPM : 2005 

IEC quality assessment system for electronic components (IECQ) - 

Electrical and electronic components and products hazardous 

substance free standard and requirements 

International relationship identical to EIA ECCB-954 (2005-03) 

EIA/ECCB-954 identifies procurement routes, traceability, handling and 

corrective actions for electronics designers and manufacturers. In many 

cases, EIA/ECCB-954 stipulates what needs to be documented. 

It does not cover the following: 

how procurement is to be performed 

how design is to be performed 

how manufacturing is to be performed. 

It does establish that all those affiliated with the producing of electronics 

products must understand the regulatory and statutory requirements 

covering those products, and have processes in place to manage their 

operations based on their own declaration of how they comply 

89

The scheme has two modules: 

Module 1: PARTS 

o RoHS Awareness Presentations & Training 

o Discussions of the legislation and relevant standards 

o Assessment and Gap Analysis to EIA/ECCB-954 and the RoHS 

Trusted Kitemark Protocol 

o Review of Material Control Plans and related documentation 

o A full PARTS – RoHS Readiness Report 

o RoHS Awareness Training 

o RoHS Gap-Analysis 

o A Full RoHS Readiness Report 

o RoHS Action Plan 

o PARTS pack including reports, presentations, details of module 

2 and application for the full RoHS Trusted Kitemark 

Module 2 Risk 

• Material Control Plan 

• The Material Control Plan based on EIA/ECCB-954 and a 

combination of risk assessment, materials analysis and quality 

control; will be reviewed to assess the methodology employed 

by the applicant to ensure ongoing RoHS compliance. 

• Ongoing Analysis 

• Based on the Material Control Plan and risk analysis, items will 

be analysed using appropriate test methods for the presence of 

the restricted substances of the RoHS Directive. 

• Ongoing Assessment 

• Ongoing assessment is a key aspect of any Kitemark scheme 

and especially important for the RoHS Trusted Kitemark. 

Continuing assessment by regular onsite audits ensures 

sustained implementation of the Material Control Plan backed by 

selected component analysis. 

90

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