Dates of Application

Directive 2002/95/EC is repealed from 3 January 2013. Member States must transpose Directive 2011/65/EU into national law by 2 January 2013.

Equipment that was outside the scope of the original Directive 2002/95/EC, and which would not be in compliance with this revised Directive, may continue to be made available on the market until 22 July 2019. This means that economic operators will be able to supply an EEE for distribution, consumption or use on the EU market in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge.

However, the revised Directive defines shorter time periods for placing on the market of certain equipment. For example, the requirements for restricted substances will apply to medical devices and monitoring and control instruments placed on the market from 22 July 2014.

Reminder: New Key Provisions

Scope
Under the revised Directive, the scope of application has been extended to ALL electrical and electronic equipment (including medical devices, monitoring and control instruments).

New Definitions
Some important definitions are now included while others have been modified.  Some examples:

     > Definitions of economic operators: ‘’manufacturer,’’ ‘’importer,’’ ‘’distributor’’ ...

      > Definition of “homogeneous material”: Defined as one material of uniform composition throughout. Or, a material consisting of a combination of materials that can not be mechanically disjointed into different materials. This means that the materials can not be separated by mechanical actions such as unscrewing, cutting, crushing, grinding or abrasive processes,

      > New definition of ‘’electrical and electronic equipment’’ (EEE): Defined as equipment that is dependent on electric currents or electromagnetic fields in order to work properly and equipment for the generation, transfer and measurement of such currents and fields; designed for use with a voltage rating not exceeding 1000 volts for alternating current and 1500 volts for direct current; where “dependent” is defined as “needing electric currents or electromagnetic fields to fulfill at least one intended function.”

Note: With this new definition, the determination of the electric/electronic primary function would no longer exclude such electric products as musical plush toys from the scope of the revised Directive 2002/95EC.

Key Requirements for Economic Operators

Overview of obligations of manufacturers:      

     > Create technical documentation that will show compliance with Article 4 Prevention (Restricted substances) and Annex II (current restrictions of cadmium, lead, mercury, chromium VI, PBB and PBDE);
     > Implement an internal production control procedure; ensure procedures are in place for series production to remain in conformity; draw up an EC Declaration of Conformity and affix the CE marking on the EEE; and
     > Mark electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) with the following: CE marking, equipment identification (type, batch or serial number or other element providing their identification), name, registered trade name or registered trade mark and address.

Overview of obligations of importers:

     > Ensure that the manufacturers have complied with their obligations as listed above;
     > Retain an available copy of the EC Declaration of Conformity for the market surveillance authorities and ensure that the technical documentation can be readily  available to those authorities, upon request; and
     > Ensure that the marking of EEE has been affixed by the manufacturer and that their name, registered trade name, or registered trade mark and address are affixed. .

Presumption of Conformity
Materials, components and EEE for which tests and measurements have been performed to demonstrate their compliance with the requirements of Article 4 (Restricted substances), or which have been assessed in accordance with harmonised standards, (the references of which have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union), shall be presumed to comply with the requirements of this Directive.

Additional information 
View the revised Directive 2011/65/UE:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ%3AL%3A2011%3A174%3ASOM%3AEN%3AHTML

Contact Information
Bureau Veritas offers a wide range of chemical management solutions. If you have any questions regarding RoHS requirements or other analytical concerns, please contact your customer service representative or visit one of the following websites:  http://www.bureauveritas.fr/ ; http://www.bureauveritas.de/cps ; http://www.bureauveritas.co.uk/cps