Article 4 of the European Union Directive 2002/95/EC dated 27 January 2003, states that member states shall ensure that from 01 July 2006, 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).

Buyers will be required to satisfy themselves based on documentary evidence received from the supplier, that shipments of all new electrical and electronic equipment that will be sold in Europe after 01 July 2006, will meet this requirement.  Because of the supply pipeline this will apply to shipments leaving the Far East some months earlier.

Product will be randomly monitored at the arrival port and in the market place.  Penalties for offenders are likely to be severe.

The maximum concentration value in homogenous material for these substances is 0.1% by weight except for cadmium which is 0.01%.  Homogenous material means a unit that cannot be mechanically disjointed into a single material.

This will be a daunting task for many buyers and suppliers as it will require collecting and reviewing the testing results of every homogenous material in every component of each product.

Even more daunting is that having once been satisfied that the product meets the required standard, strict monitoring of all changes will be required to ensure subsequent shipments remain acceptable.

PSL has developed a program to support buyers and suppliers to meet the requirements of the RoHS directive.