The industry must avoid confusion between the two separate European Directives for hazardous substances and waste disposal, according to the standards agency the BSI.

According to Simon Bircham, product manager with the BSI, recent changes to the deadline for implementing the WEEE Directive in the UK might have confused some companies over the status of the RoHS Directive.

In August the Government pushed back the date for implementing the WEEE Directive by six months to June 2006, a move widely welcomed by UK industry and trade bodies. The RoHS Directive was unaffected by the change and will come into force next July.

“With the shifting of the WEEE deadline there may be an assumption that the RoHS Directive will slip back as well, which is not the case,” said Bircham.

Bircham warned UK manufacturers and suppliers to avoid any confusion from the “possible smoke-screening” of the RoHS Directive.

“In some cases the two Directives have been linked more than they possibly should have been and people can get confused,” said Bircham.

To emphasise the importance to UK firms of complying with the RoHS Directive, the BSI has recently launched its first RoHS Kitemark scheme.

In a process which might only take a few weeks, the BSI can assess a company’s products, manufacturing and procurement process as well as its suppliers to find out whether they meet the requirements of the Directive.

“The aim is to build confidence [of compliance] in the supply chain,” said Bircham.

Bircham believes the process of compliance could be particularly difficult for contract manufacturers, which often operate a wide range of processes in their plants.

Earlier this month, the National Physical Laboratory also warned that many small businesses are still ignorant of the RoHS and WEEE Directives. Those companies which produce non-compliant products risk having no market by the middle of next year, when legislation is due to take effect.

www.rohs-kitemark.com