June 18, 2010: EU - ECHA adds eight substances to the Candidate List for authorisation

The European Chemical Agency formally added eight additional substances to the SVHC Candidate list.  The substances include: Trichloroethylene, Boric acid, Disodium tetraborate, anhydrous, Tetraboron disodium heptaoxide, hydrate, Sodium chromate, Potassium chromate, Ammonium dichromate, Potassium dichromate. Addition of the substance to the candidate list triggers immediate disclosure obligations for manufacturers, importers, and distributors.

June 9, 2010: Canada - proposes new  Canada Consumer Product Safety Act

Bill C-36, a revised Consumer Product Safety Act was introduced in the Canadian parliament. It proposes several new obligations and compliance requirements  for manufacturers, importers and distributers to improve product safety in Canada.

June 2, 2010: Quebec - Changes to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) mandatory reporting regulation

The Canadian province of Quebec has proposed amendments to it's "Regulation Respecting Mandatory Reporting of Certain Emissions of Contaminants into the Atmosphere" regulation to lower the mandatory reporting threshold to 10,000 metric tonnes of CO2e and to align reporting requirements with the Western Climate Initiative (WCI).

June 2, 2010: EU Parliament ENVI committee approved compromise amendments for recast of RoHS Directive (RoHS-2) 

Key changes are to open scope to all electronics (unless explicitly excluded) and to add organobromine and organochlorine flame retardants, PVC and several other substances for priority consideration of restriction. No additional substances will be initially added to the list of restricted substances.

May 12, 2010: Canada - Substances added to CEPA Schedule 1

Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 is amended by adding five substances and a group of substances to Schedule 1 (List of Toxic Substances) . The substances include Methyloxirane, Ethyloxirane, Naphthalene, Toluene diisocyanates, 1,2-Benzenediol, and 1,4-Benzenediol.

May 5, 2010: Canada - Canadian Lawmakers Pass Climate Change Act

Canada’s House of Commons passed the Climate Change Accountability Act. The legislation will require that greenhouse gas emissions be reduced by 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020

April 6, 2010: EU Parliament delays vote on RoHS-2

The EU Parliament vote on RoHS-2 has been delayed due to the large number (339) of amendments proposed by Members of European Parliament (MEPs). Several key issues relate to inclusion of additional substance restrictions and opening the product scope to nearly all electrical and electronic equipment.

March 31, 2010: JIG-101 V3 Released for the Electronics Industry

The Joint Industry Guide Material Composition Declaration for Electronic Products edition 3 was released on March 31, 2010. The standard provides the electronics industry with a common list of regulated substances to be declared by manufacturers and suppliers. Changes were made to the declarable substance listprimarily to reflect the additional substances added to the REACH candidate list and registry of intentions.

March 23, 2010: Revised IPC-1752A Material Declaration standard is Approved

A major revision to the IPC-1752 standard for Material Declaration was approved by the committee on March 15, 2010 and was published on March 23, 2010.  IPC-1752 provides the electronics industry and its supply chain with a standard reporting format for material declaration data exchange between supply chain participants.

February 2010: IEC/TR62476 Published - Guidance for evaluation of product with respect to substance-use restrictions

IEC 62476 TR (Guidance for evaluation of product with respect to substance use restrictions in electrical and electronic products) was approved by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in December 2009 and has now been published. The document includes high-level requirements and guidance for restricted substance controls (RSC). 

March 23, 2009: EU Commission makes available the report on recommendations for the current EU RoHS exemptions

The European Union Commission has published the report that they commissioned to assess and provide recommendations on the EU RoHS exemptions.  The report written by the Öko-Institute and Fraunhofer IZM  recommends that six of the active exemptions be withdrawn in the near term and has proposed tightened wording and timelines for other RoHS exemptions.

March 2009: An article by Walter Jager is published in EP&T magazine

The article "International standards emerge for environmental compliance" written by Walter Jager, president of ECD Technology Ltd., is published in the March/April edition of EP&T magazine. (available online at www.ept.ca, p. 14-15)

January 14, 2009 - ECHA prioritizes seven SVHC substances for REACH authorization

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) proposed a list of seven (7) priority SVHC substances that they are suggesting for initial inclusion in Annex XIV of the REACH regulation. After a pre-determined time period a manufacturer or importer will need to obtain authorization from ECHA to continue selling the product with these substance. ECHA is currently asking for input from stakeholders on the list of substances and potential exemptions to authorization.  The prioritised substances are:

• 5-tert-butyl-2,4,6-trinitro-m-xylene (musk xylene)
• Alkanes,C10-13,chloro (short chain chlorinated paraffins; SCCPs)
• Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) and all major diastereoisomers identified
• 4,4’-Diamino diphenyl methane (MDA)
• Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)
• Benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) and
• Dibutyl phthalate (DBP)

December 3, 2008 - EU Commission releases updated RoHS and WEEE Directives

• Includes Medical Equipment and Monitoring and Control Instruments within the scope of RoHS
• Brings RoHS compliance under the CE mark
• Establishes requirements for Conformity assessment, and market surveillance,
• Improves the process for requesting exemptions but establishes a time limit of four years.
• Separates the scope of the RoHS Directive from the WEEE Directive
• Establishes definitions for several key terms, including homogeneous material and fixed installation

October 28, 2008 – ECHA publishes official REACH SVHC list

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has published the official SVHC (Substances of Very High Concern) candidate list on its web site consisting of 15 substances.  The publication of the candidate list imposes immediate communication requirements on manufacturers and importers of products, preparations, and substances.

October 10, 2008 - IEC PAS 62596 on Sample Disjointment is Approved 

This guidance document is particularly useful given that a significant number of errors in testing are caused by initial errors in obtaining and preparing samples. The draft for a Publically Available Specification (PAS) on “Sample Disjointment” for purposes of restricted substance testing was approved by IEC National Committees when the voting period closed on October 10, 2008.

The PAS 62596 document will be publically released within a couple months.

October 3, 2008: IEC 62321 — Standard for Test Methods for RoHS substances is Approved

The IEC 62321 FDIS (Final Draft International Standard) was unanimously approved by TC111 National Committees on Oct 3, 2008.  The standard describes accepted methods for sample preparation and testing for the six RoHS substances. 

The IEC62321 is expected to be formally published as an International Standard in January or February 2009. Several government enforcement authorities have already indicated  that they will accept the testing standard.

September 5, 2008: IEC 62430 – Environmentally Conscious Design (ECD) Standard is Approved

The IEC 62430 Committee Draft for Vote (CDV) was unanimously approved (with 4 abstains) when balloting closed on September 5, 2008. The working group has made editorial improvements that were recommended by National Committees and the document is now going through IEC central office for publication as an International Standard. 

IEC 62430 specifies baseline requirements for developing and implementing an ECD process (including documentation requirements) as part of an organization’s design processes.

July 1, 2008: Korea RoHS comes into effect for certain types of electrical and electronic products.

February 22, 2008: The fourth meeting of the EuP Consultation forum is held to consider Implementing Measures for external power supplies simple set top boxes. Power efficiency standards for no-load and load conditions will become mandatory under the “CE” mark to place products on the EU market. 

January 1, 2008: Korea RoHS was to have come into effect on Jan 1, 2008.  Enforcement has been formally delayed until July 1, 2008 due to the late signing of supporting legislation (Presidential Decree and Enforcement Regulation).  Note: Korea RoHS has significant additional provisions compared to EU RoHS and China RoHS. However, all three regulations restricted the same six substances.

December 15, 2007:The draft standard IEC 62321 on Procedures for the determination of levels of six regulated substances (Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Hexavalent Chromium, Polybrominated Biphenyls, Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers) was approved by the IEC/TC111 committee. Both industry and government have been awaiting the publication of this standard to provide a common agreement for testing for the RoHS substances.

November 2, 2007: NWML releases report on UK RoHS Enforcement. The UK RoHS enforcement authority, the National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML), has released its first year report on enforcement of the EU RoHS Directive. The NWML confirmed that a large number of compliance issues had been found and remedial actions taken with several producers. Enforcement was hampered by limitations defined in the UK RoHS regulation; the regulation will be updated in Feb 2008 to increase enforcement powers.  The report is available here:

October 19, 2007: The second meeting of the EuP Consultation Forum is held to consider Implementing Measures for “standby and off-mode electric power consumption of electrical and electronic household and office equipment”.  The focus of these IMs is on household and office equipment and are targeted to come into effect in 2008.

May 29, 2007: Intel announces that their next generation processors will be entirely Pb-free. Intel has been hinting for the past year that it will move to discontinue it’s Pb-based manufacturing. The next generation processors will be available only with Pb-free terminations/balls and will not require the Pb in flip-chip exemption that has been used throughout the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Intel also plans to discontinue its existing Pb-based products, but has not set a specific date.

April 2007: The IEC is developing an international standard on Environmentally Conscious Design (ECD) of IT and Communication Technology products (IEC62075, Ed 1.0). The standard is being developed by experts within the TC108 committee -- representatives from the major IT and communication equipment producers. Balloting on the draft standard closed this month. The current proposal specifies requirements and recommendations for the environmentally conscious design of products with regard to:

• life cycle thinking aspects,
• material efficiency,
• energy efficiency,
• consumables and batteries,
• chemical and noise emissions,
• extension of product lifetime,
• end of life,
• hazardous substances/preparations,
• product packaging, and
• documentation.