Proposal report about ROHS exemption clauses by INSTITUTE

2009-09-02

To delete materials and components of the electronic and electrical devices from the Appendix 2002/95/EC (RoHS exemption clauses), EU will audit every exemption clause in the Appendix at least every four years or four years after the item is added to the list.

The main contents of the report focus on existing exemption and new exemption requests. Totally 29 exemption clauses are included. In the final evaluation of the report, it is 

recommended to stop the following seven exemption clauses:

Exemption clause 16: Lead in linear incandescence lamp (2006/310/EC); 

Exemption clause 18: Lead as accelerant in fluorescent powder of the discharge lamp (2006/310/EC);

Exemption clause 19: Lead in special compounds in PbBiSn-Hg and PbBiSn-Hg forms;

Exemption clause 20: Oxide lead in the glass used in connecting the front and rear substrates of flat fluorescent lamp of LCD (2006/310/EC);

Exemption clause 26: Lead oxide in glass gland of BLB (2006/691/EC);

Exemption clause 27: Lead alloy used as solder in high power speaker sensor (2006/691/EC);

Exemption clause 28: Hexavalent chrome in anticorrosive coating (2006/692/EC);

In addition, the following five exemption requests are also evaluated: 

In addition, the following five exemption requests are also evaluated: 

Lead and cadmium in the glaze and pigment used to decorate the lamp holder and clock; • Cortex 

Lead in third party component solder of Cortex series equipment;

Cadmium in solid phase (electric crystal) lighting and display system;

Lead in the solder connecting ultra-thin enameled copper wire (<100 μm) and the lead in the solder connecting copper clad aluminum enameled wire (CCAWs) with copper layer less than 20 μm

At present, Öko only recommends to certificate the fourth exemption (i.e. cadmium in solid phase lighting and display system). The period of validity for exemption clauses that substitutes can’t be forecasted will be delayed to July 31, 2014, namely the expiry date of next inspection. The EU will inspect these exemption clauses and check whether they accord with the requirement of RoHS directive Article (1) (b). However, EU hasn’t decided when to publish the conclusion.

Note: According to the contents of COM (2008) 809/4 Article 5 (exemption mechanism), the inspection of once every four years will be replaced by the regulation that period of validity for exemption clauses is four years at most.