30 Mar 2018

Compliance is mandatory for electrical and electronic products being sold into China

After years of anticipation, the long-awaited China RoHS Catalog Notice No. 15 of 2018 was published by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China. The restriction of hazardous substances ("RoHS") in China impacts companies manufacturing, importing, or distributing electrical and electronic products parts, or components. It is also of particular interest to parties that oversee Chinese suppliers and manufacturers, or are involved in corporate product design/content decisions. This is the first-time that material restrictions have been added to China RoHS and failure to comply can result in damage to the brand, monetary and civil penalties. It is imperative that companies understand their regulatory requirements.

This catalog requires that the stand-alone products listed cannot contain identified hazardous substances in excess of the identified maximum concentration limits beginning on March 15, 2019. Products containing an excess of the maximum concentration values (MCVs) cannot be placed on the market after that date, unless there is an exemption for the use of the material and its application does not exceed the identified weight % of the homogeneous material contained in the stand-alone product. China RoHS includes a list of the products in the Catalog, and the substance restrictions are only applicable to stand-alone products and do not apply to products that are incorporated into another product.

The hazardous substances and their MVCs are currently the same as EU RoHS (listed in GB/T 26572-2011). These EU RoHS-like restrictions have been applied to the following stand-alone electronic products listed in the Catalog:

  • Refrigerators
  • Air conditioners
  • Washing machines
  • Electric water heaters
  • Printers
  • Photocopiers
  • Fax machines
  • Television sets
  • Monitoring and control instruments
  • Microcomputers
  • Mobile communication handsets
  • Telephones

Regulatory compliance with China RoHS will require companies to assess their supply chains to better understand the specifications and composition of their products. Need to more information? Visit: https://www.intertek.com/rohs/china/