RoHS Compliant Products Worldwide

How to make sure electronics are RoHS compliant products in every country?
First of all, we must find out what are the impacted markets. Then, we need to understand the RoHS differences from one country to another. Let’s do it!

Electronic Products must be RoHS Compliant Worldwide.

Restrictions of hazardous substances (RoHS) apply to electrical and electronic products. The European Union launched the first RoHS directive in 2002. Since then, RoHS regulations have been evolving and are impacting a growing number of jurisdictions. Here are some examples:

The European Union
China
The UK
The United Arab Emirates
Saudi Arabia
Oman
The Eurasian Economic Union, with Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan
Ukraine
India
Turkey
California
Singapore
South Korea
Taiwan
Japan with J-Moss; and
Vietnam

How to Ensure Products are RoHS Compliant?

Here are six takeaways when you monitor the RoHS obligations of your products.

1- Verify the RoHS Scope

First, the scope of covered products varies from one jurisdiction to another. For instance:

The EU has the broadest RoHS scope. For example, most industrial monitoring and control instruments must be RoHS compliant in the EU.
In contrast, Japan J-Moss focuses on consumer products.

Consequently, producers must confirm whether their manufactured products fall in the different RoHS scopes.

2- Monitor the Covered Restricted Hazardous Substances

Secondly, the basic restricted substance categories under RoHS are the six following ones:

These four heavy metals and their compounds:

Lead (Pb)
Cadmium (Cd)
Mercury (Hg)
Hexavalent chromium (Cr 6+)

And two brominated families:

Polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs)
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)

Additionally, some of the most influential markets also restrict these four phthalates in many product categories :

Butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP)
Di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP)
Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), and
Diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP)

Generally speaking, the accepted thresholds are 0.1% for all the above substances, barring cadmium at 0.01%, at the homogeneous material level.

3- Assess your Products against RoHS: with Analytical Testing or Documentary Reviews

In essence, a RoHS assessment can follow two assessment approaches that complement each other:

The analytical testing consists in physically testing samples against the RoHS substances. The IEC 62321 standards give testing guidelines.
The documentary review consists in auditing the RoHS documentation from the supply chain. The IEC 63000 standard shows how to do risk assessments and build a technical file.

Leading markets like the European Union recommend Standard IEC 63000 for complex products. However, other jurisdictions like the United Arab Emirates also authorize analytical testing under certain conditions.

4- Self Declarations or Approval from a Certification Body?

Manufacturers and importers of electrical and electronic equipment must either:

Self-declare the RoHS compliance of their products. For example, it is the case in the European Union, China, or Vietnam. Or;
Submit their RoHS technical files to an accredited Certification Body. Russia, the United Arab Emirates, or Taiwan require approval from such recognized organizations.

5- Register the RoHS Compliant Products in a National Agency

Some countries, such as Turkey, also require producers to issue their RoHS Declarations of Conformity (DoC) to governmental agencies.

6- Mark your Devices with the Appropriate RoHS Compliant Logos

Various logos encompass the RoHS requirements. Some examples of these might be:

The CE marking in the European Union;
The EFUP logos in China;
The UKCA stamp in the United Kingdom;
The Taiwanese inspection mark; or
The Ukraine compliance symbol.

Other markets don’t have any official RoHS marking at all.

In short, new restricted substances or new exemptions regularly amend RoHS regulations. Every year, more markets adopt RoHS regulations.

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