Hi Bill, I can answer to the exemption request - that was me. Anyone can apply for an exemption at the EU. I applied for one on environmental grounds on behalf of the electronics industry and circulated a support letter to the industry which they could cut and paste to make supporting the exemption request easier. The reason I did this is that the EU system is not that clear on how to apply - - since I know how - I did. The EU system of public sector exemption discussion is also not widely publicized or understood and it is not that clear how to support a request, so I made it easy. The law is the law and as such must be obeyed, my hope is that through highlighting the environmental aspects with solid data such as the EPA report and the University of Stuttgart report that lead in solders will be recognized for what it is - a non issue - and that the EU will respond to these inputs accordingly. John Burke (408) 515 4992 -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Bill Kasprzak Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 11:56 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] The 'poisonous'- computer reports >From all the responses I've read on this topic, I see lots of answers. Some talk about the lead content in glass and others talk about lead leaching into landfills, maybe. Anyhow, with all of this talk about lead without any clear cut consensus on what it does or does not do to the environment, how the heck did the EU force the global electronics industry into a lead free situation that has added cost to every single electronics company on the planet. Now I'm hearing through the forum that no one is checking for lead free product compliance. Then there's the recent thread about an official EU exemption form being circulated, etc etc etc. All I know is that lead-free has created havoc and confusion in trying to build electronic assemblies. I can no longer discern what the actual benefit from lead free in electronics was intended to do. Does someone have any idea where this is headed? Bill Kasprzak --------------------------------------------------- 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 ----------------------------------------------------- Moog Inc. --------------------------------------------------- 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 -----------------------------------------------------