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Saturday 22 November 2008
Design
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|NewsletterLegislation
RoHS testing regime attacked by supplier
Wednesday 24 October 2007
Ambiguity surrounding what is acceptable RoHS testing technology and a lack of visible enforcement of RoHS regulation by the authorities are holding back the objectives of RoHS policy in Europe, according to an analysis equipment supplier.
US-based Thermo-Fisher Scientific has an alternative to spending the $2m it takes to set up a fully-fledged RoHS testing lab. It is a €30,000 hand-held device which uses X-rays to determine the chemical make up of a substance.
However, 80 per cent of all sales are to Asian manufacturers, checking that their goods are RoHS compliant for export to Europe and, increasingly, the US where RoHS legislation is being adopted on a state-by-state basis, starting with California.
According to the company’s European marketing manager, Roel Crama: “There is no fixed regulation in Europe of how to do the RoHS testing. There are suggestions of how to do it. But nothing fixed.”
This is despite International Electro-Technical Commission (IEC) test procedures which are enforced in the UK by the NWML.
“There is ambiguity over what is to be accepted testing technology, and customers don’t want to invest when there’s no real enforcement,” said Ken Stehr, RoHS account manager at Thermo-Fisher Scientific.
US-based Thermo-Fisher Scientific has an alternative to spending the $2m it takes to set up a fully-fledged RoHS testing lab. It is a €30,000 hand-held device which uses X-rays to determine the chemical make up of a substance.
However, 80 per cent of all sales are to Asian manufacturers, checking that their goods are RoHS compliant for export to Europe and, increasingly, the US where RoHS legislation is being adopted on a state-by-state basis, starting with California.
According to the company’s European marketing manager, Roel Crama: “There is no fixed regulation in Europe of how to do the RoHS testing. There are suggestions of how to do it. But nothing fixed.”
This is despite International Electro-Technical Commission (IEC) test procedures which are enforced in the UK by the NWML.
“There is ambiguity over what is to be accepted testing technology, and customers don’t want to invest when there’s no real enforcement,” said Ken Stehr, RoHS account manager at Thermo-Fisher Scientific.
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