China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released a new draft of Administrative Measure on the Control of Pollution Caused by Electrical and Electronic Products for public consultation (1). The consultation ended on 17 June 2015 but the MIIT has not announced when the new regulation will repeal existing China RoHS Administrative Measure on the Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products in 2006 (2).
Expanded Product Scope for China RoHS
The new draft is that it expands China RoHS's product scope from electronic information products (EIP) to electrical and electronic products (EEP) which is defined as 'devices and accessory products with rated working electrical voltages that do not exceed 1500V direct current and do not exceed 1000V alternating current and function by means of current or electromagnetic fields and generate, transmit and measure such currents and electromagnetic fields'.
The new draft restricts the same 6 hazardous substances (lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, PBB and PBDE) as the previous China RoHS. Detailed concentration limits are set by the standard: GB/T 26572-2011 Requirements of Concentration Limits for Certain Restricted Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products (3).
Labeling of Electrical and Electronic Products
The new draft requires that all EEP in the People's Republic of China shall be marked with a label to provide the consumer information about restricted substances present and correct disposal of the product. The labeling requirements remain essentially unchanged and expand to cover the new product scope. According to the standard: SJ/T 11364-2014 Marking for the Restriction of the Use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Product (4), one of the following two labels shall be used depending on whether the product contains restricted substances:
- Green symbol with "e" in it: The product does not contain restricted substances and is a green, environmentally friendly product which can be recycled;
- Orange symbol with a number in it: The product contains certain hazardous substances and can be used safely during its environmental protection use period (EPUP) (as indicated by the number in the center) and should enter into the recycling system after EPUP. Manufacturers and importers shall also provide the declaration table of the hazardous substances present in the product according to the standard: SJ/T 11364-2014.
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