Tim,

We are not smoking anything (during working hours).

What you heard last week contradicts the latest published draft of the
marking standard, which has a history of changing with every (unofficial)
release. What MII says and what actually happens are not always the same. So
no, you can not always believe what you hear and depend on it. This is still
a fluid situation - I don't care if you heard it from Huang himself; it's
simply another data point and the fact is that this is not over because the
final standard has not been released...even then I might check twice to make
sure. We have spoken with him and MII on occasion over the past year and AeA
has over the past several. Our experience is similar to AeA's in this
regard. One thing to keep in mind is that MII is not the final arbiter of
the the law's implementation. There are many Chinese government entities
involved in this regulation. So to answer your question, the pipeline we
have is to experience with this...

The only time the EFUP can actually be rationally determined that I can come
up with is when a battery that uses cadmium, mercury, or lead is in the
product. Under what other normal use conditions does lead, cadmium, mercury,
hex chrome, PBBs, or PBDEs "leak or mutate"? Their definition is not
helpful.

We'll see if they tell the same story on the 26th out here.

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, October 16, 2006 3:33 AM
To: [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [LF] Chinese Government Delegation Coming to US to Explain
New Environmental Regulations Impacting the High-Tech Industry


Mike:

I spoke with MII last week in Shanghai, and they said the color of the
labels is not important - that the "e" and environment friendly period
label
could be any color, not just the green or orange-red that has so far
been
published.  I am sharing what I heard directly from the mouth of MII
just
last Thursday, 10/12/2006.  Because of language issues and because
standards
have not yet been published, yes, be cautious and make sure you get it
right.  But they said directly to my face that the color is not
important
and they could be any color.  You may be intimating that they lied or
perhaps what they said will change.  I felt I should share what was
said
by an official of the Chinese government (MII) at a meeting just a few
days ago,
held at the Shanghai Institute of Standards (SIS) jointly with ASTM
International and
sponsored by NEMA.

I also shared what was said about the environment friendly period.  We
all know that it cannot be quantified. They said it is a period during
which
the product will not leak or otherwise emit hazardous substances - it
is in
a sense a guarantee by the producer.  They said that (and I
paraphrase) "of
course the product can still be used after the environment friendly
period
has ended - the user will not have a guarantee from the producer after
the
period has ended"

Mike:  I don't know what pipeline (or pipe) Design Chain Associates has
got
in order to be able to contradict what I heard directly from MII - in
fact I
heard it directly from the people who are writing the Administrative
Measures.  Maybe you are in contact with a higher being?


Tim McGrady

Chairman, ASTM International Committee F40 on Declarable Substances in
Materials

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