In December 2005, the European Commission has launched a stakeholder consultation on Directive 2002/95/EC on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment whse article 4(1) provides ‘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.’.

In particular, the consultation refers to the annex to the Directive listing a limited number of applications of lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium, which are exempted from the above-mentioned requirements. The Commission has actually received from industry additional requests for applications to be exempted from the requirements of the RoHS Directive. Thirteen of the exemptions sought by industry are for lead, two are for cadmium.

Before the European Commission takes the final decision, stakeholders are requested to provide, for each entry, information on:
 the current existence of feasible substitutes in an industrial and/or commercial scale;
 any restrictions that apply to such substitutes;
 the costs and benefits and advantages and disadvantages of such a substitutes;
 provide a precise wording for each exemption. Stakeholders are requested to support, as far as possible, their contribution with technical and scientific evidence.
Go to the consultation page