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Commission sets out plans to amend RoHS

Changes will allow secondary markets and repair to continue for products newly in scope, but co-decision leaves door open for further changes to creep in.

Last week, the Commission published a roadmap outlining its plans to amend elements of RoHS, the European Directive which restricts certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. 

The review is mandated under Article 24(1) of the recast RoHS Directive. It instructs the Commission to review the need to amend the scope of RoHS and present a report and legislative proposal, if required, to the European Parliament.

The roadmap shows that the Commission intends to make only one significant change: wording had sneaked into the legal text which would have set limitations to secondary markets and spare parts after 2019 for products newly in scope. This would effectively prevent any new products within the scope of RoHS from being resold, refurbished or repaired with spare parts. Non-compliant products would have had to have been pulled from the market. In short, preventing the functioning of any secondary markets.

The proposed changes will prevent that from occurring: older products newly in scope that contain RoHS restricted substances will still be able to be repaired later with original spare parts. This is based on the principle that in most cases extending the life of these products is both economically and environmentally beneficial. 

The Commission expects adoption in the second quarter of 2016. A submission of the legislative proposal to the European Parliament and Council should therefore happen around May or June.

While the scope of the changes are very narrow in scope and welcome, there is the potential for MEPs to use the opportunity to their advantage and push for further changes. The co-decision process could therefore see other amendments creep in. techUK will be monitoring the progress of these discussions closely.

 

Channel website: http://www.techuk.org/

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