New round of RoHS Stakeholder consultation: FYI John Subject: Stakeholder consultation on Adaptation to scientific and technical progress under Directive 2002/95/EC for the purpose of a possible amendment of the Annex. Dear Madam/Sir, Article 4(1) of Directive 2002/95/EC on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment provides (ROHS) ‘that from 1 July 2006, new electrical and electronic equipment put on the market does not contain lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, PBB or PBDE.’ The annex to the Directive lists a number of applications of lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium, which are exempted from the requirements of Article 4(1). This list of exemptions might need to be amended as additional requests for exemptions have been submitted by industry; Article 5(1)(b) of Directive 2002/95/EC provides that materials and components can be exempted from the substance restrictions contained in Article 4(1) if their elimination or substitution via design changes or materials and components which do not require any of the materials or substances referred to therein is technically or scientifically impracticable, or where the negative environmental, health and/or consumer safety impacts caused by substitution outweigh the environmental, health and/or consumer safety benefits thereof. The Commission has received from industry additional requests for applications to be exempted from the requirements of the directive that go beyond the applications listed in the annex of the directive. According to Article 5 (2) of Directive 2002/95/EC before amending the annex, the Commission should consult the relevant stakeholders. Therefore I like to inform you that my services intend to launch an on-line public stakeholder consultation on the different items as mentioned above which will run from 10 November 2006 until 10 January 2007. The consultation will be launched with the publication of a consultation document on the following web page: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/waste/weee_index.htm. Interested parties are invited to send their comments by 10 January 2007 at the latest by e-mail to [log in to unmask] or by post to: European Commission DG Environment, Unit G4 – Consultation Directive 2002/95/EC, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium. It shall be noted that submissions containing generic comments, statements, position papers and additional request for exemptions will not be taken into account. Yours sincerely, Klaus Kögler. Head of Unit Please consider the environment before deciding to print this e-mail. *********************DISCLAIMER********************************************* ************************************ Disclaimer required under the terms and conditions of use of the internet and electronic mail from Commission equipment: "The views expressed are purely those of the writer and may not in any circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the European Commission. A binding interpretation of Community law can only be given by the European Court of Justice". **************************************************************************** ****************************************** --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 -----------------------------------------------------