Pronounced "Ross" or "Rohas", RoHS is a European Directive regarding 'Restriction of Hazardous Substances'.

Adopted by the European Union back in February 2003, the RoHS Directive and associated UK RoHS regulations came into effect 1 July 2006. It prevents new electrical and electronic equipment containing more than agreed levels of hazardous substance from coming onto the market.

The substances comprise: lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants.

The RoHS Directive (2002/95/EC) and the WEEE Directive (2002/96/EC) are intended to tackle the growing problem of disposing of waste electronic equipment. They are also meant to complement European Union measures on landfill and incineration of waste.

Who enforces RoHS in the UK? The government has awarded a contract to the National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) to set up the national RoHS enforcement body. Consequently, the NWML is an important source of RoHS-related information for electronics companies.

For example, the NWML has put a Decision Tree online. This is intended to help companies to determine whether or not electrical equipment they put on the market in the UK falls within the scope of the RoHS Regulations.

"The National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) is committed to ensuring RoHS compliance in the UK' declares NWML, in its enforcement policy. "We want to work with industry and not against it, progressing in partnership towards full compliance."

ELECTRONICS WEEKLY NEWS ON ROHS

Latest news on RoHS

• Hot off the press: China RoHS progress (Directive Decoder)
• China RoHS - Back on? (Directive Decoder)
• Aerco AE 348 RoHS compliant Ultra MSI joystick
• Korea RoHS Update (Directive Decoder)
• Tyco M/A-Com offers RoHS compliant 3.5GHz switch

Previous stories to note

WEEE Directive in full force
After multiple false starts, as of 1 July, the new Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations is intended to ensure that major producers, rebranders and importers of household electrical and electronic equipment are signed up to pay for the responsible disposal and recycling of their goods.

RoHS laws differ across Europe, says expert
Europe's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive is being handled differently across the various member states, according to an industry expert.

HP uses first green processor for PCs in China
Via Technologies has seen its energy efficient microprocessor technology used in the HP Compaq dx2020 PC which will be sold in China.

RoHS makes impact on circuit design
RoHS compliance occupied many employees in all sectors of the electronics industry for significant amounts of time pre-July 2006.

How is Europe tackling RoHS legislation?
The European Union’s Restrictions of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive took affect on July 1, 2006.

RoHS crackdown is working in the UK
The majority of UK firms are complying with the RoHS Directive and firms have so far escaped prosecutions, but only just in some cases.

Expert delivers warning on Chinas RoHS legislation
China's version of the RoHS - Restriction of use of Certain Hazardous Substances - Directive differs widely from the European legislation, and complete definitions of products that are in scope do not yet exist.

ELECTRONICS WEEKLY "DIRECTIVE DECODER" BLOG

"Super" RoHS on its way?
Norway has served notice that it intends to prohibit, with a few exemptions, 18 substances from consumer goods in Norway.

Legislation driving design best practice
New EU legislation is affecting the design of new electrical and electronic equipment in a variety of ways.

Grey Area Products - Power Supplies
I'm often asked about Power Supplies and their RoHS status. As finished goods these do not seem to fit any of the WEEE categories and would be deemed out of scope.

RoHS Review - Invitation To Comment
The EC has started its first review of RoHS with an invitation to stakeholders to comment on certain key topics.

EU RoHS - a single market directive or not?
As you know, EU RoHS is supposed to be a single market directive, in other words the interpretation is the same across all Member States (Article 95). However, one or two differences are already becoming apparent.

The EU RoHS Directive - the first year in force
Directive 2002/95/EC, well known as the EU-RoHS directive, came into force on 1st July 2006.

ELECTRONICS WEEKLY ANALYSIS

WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive

OTHER RESOURCES

UK Government RoHS info

RoHS Decision Tree

RoHS FAQ

Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament

RoHS (Wikipedia)

A NWML guide to Identifying Notified Bodies in the UK

WEEE in the UK