How does it affect you?

Does it apply to you?

The regulations apply to all Electrical and Electronic Equipment containing hazardous substances that is broadly covered by the following categories:

• Small & large household appliances
• IIT & telecommunications
• Consumer equipment
• Lighting equipment
• Electrical & electronic tools
• Toys, leisure and sports equipment
• Automatic dispensers
 

As with all EC Directives, a definitive view may only be obtained through the courts. It is recommended that Producers get their own legal advice on these questions.

Loss of sales
You will not be able to export non-RoHS products to the EU.

Penalties

Your European subsidiary, agent or distributor may be subject to severe penalties, including jail terms in some States, if they import non-compliant products to the EU.

Component Obsolescence

RoHS components are rapidly replacing non-RoHS components, so there will be obsolescence issues even if you don’t ship to the EU. Product Redesign Products will need to be redesigned and requalified with new Bills of Material (BoM’s) using RoHS compliant materials.

Compliance

Compliance hasn’t been precisely specified leaving it open to interpretation by the Member States. However it is the Sellers responsibility to ensure compliance and this means proving that your product has less than 0.1% by weight of any of the restricted substances. Gathering, storing and reporting component composition information is tedious but crucial if you have to provide a defence.

Resources

Staff will need to be trained in the implications of RoHS and resources allocated to ensure that your products comply. Records need to be kept for up to 4 years and be available within 28 days upon request.