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Eurofins | Newsflash - March 2019 | Electrical & Electronics

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Eurofins newsflash Electrical and electronics

 

Europe

 

New Amendments for RoHS

 

On 5th February 2019, the European Commission has published the following amendments to Directive 2011/65/EU (RoHS) as below, regarding exemptions for lead and cadmium.

 

Read more >>

 

Approaching date for phthalates restriction under RoHS 2

 

From 22nd July 2019,  Directive (EU) 2015/863 amending Annex II to RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU regarding the restriction of four phthalates will be effective.

 

After this date the following restricted substances shall not be allowed in electrical and electronic equipment:

 

Restricted substances

Maximum concentrations VALUES TOLERATED by weight in homogeneous materials (%)

Lead

0.1

Mercury

0.1

Cadmium

0.01

Hexavalent chromium

0.1

Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB)

0.1

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE)

0.1

 Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)

0.1

Butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP)

0.1

Dibutyl phthalate (DBP)

0.1

Diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP)

0.1

 

Note: The restriction of DEHP, BBP and DBP shall not apply to toys which are already subject to the restriction of DEHP, BBP and DBP through Entry 51 of Annex XVII to REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006.

 

Other important remarks:

  • The restriction of DEHP, BBP, DBP and DIBP shall apply to medical devices, including in vitromedical devices, and monitoring and control instruments, including industrial monitoring and control instruments, from 22 July 2021

The restriction of DEHP, BBP, DBP and DIBP shall not apply to cables or spare parts for the repair, the reuse, the updating of functionalities or upgrading of capacity of EEE placed on the market before 22 July 2019, and of medical devices, including in vitro medical devices, and monitoring and control instruments, including industrial monitoring and control instruments, placed on the market before 22 July 2021.

 

New format for registration of producers of electrical and electronic equipment

 

On 20th February 2019, the European Commission published the COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2019/290 of 19 February 2019 establishing the format for registration and reporting of producers of electrical and electronic equipment to the register.

 

In the Annexes of this Regulation, the format for the following registrations is included:

 

Annex

Format for

I – Part A

Registration of a producer.

I – Part B

Registration of an authorised representative.

II

Reporting to the register of a Member State on EEE placed on its market.

 

It shall apply from 1 January 2020.

 

China

 

The Second Step of China’s RoHS will enter into effect on March 12, 2019 for selected EEPs in first Batch

 

On March 12th 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued "The Standard Management Catalogue of Limiting the Use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products (EEPs) (first batch)" and "the Exemption List to the Use of Restricted Substances in the Standard Management Catalogue". These two standards are used to implement the second step of Management Methods (Management Methods for Restricted Use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products).

 

The Management Methods adopt a two-step approach:

  • As a first step, a declaration of hazardous substances is required if the concentration of restricted substances in the products is over the limits.
  • As a second step, the products that are included in The Standard Management Catalogue of Limiting the Use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products” have to be subject to concentration limits for hazardous substances except those in the Exemption List.

 

Besides this, Article 18 of the Management Methods points out that the authorities will develop a “conformity assessment system” that manufacturers will have to follow in order to comply with the requirements, but it has yet to be formalised.

 

From March 2019, these two standards will come into force.

 

EEPs categories in first Batch include*:

  • Refrigerators (cubage ≤ 800 L)
  • Air conditioners (rated refrigerating capacity ≤ 14000 W)
  • Washing machines (rated washing capacity ≤ 10 kg)
  • Electric water heaters (cubage ≤ 500 L)
  • Printers (printing format ≤ A3 and printing speed ≤ 60 sheet/min)
  • Copiers (printing format ≤ A3 and printing speed ≤ 60 sheet/min)
  • Fax machines
  • Televisions
  • Monitors
  • Microcomputers
  • Mobile communication devices
  • Telephones

* These product categories are described in the scope of the conformity assessment scheme of hazardous substances in electrical appliances and electronic products. It is the finished product which will define the applicability of the catalogue. The catalogue states that the listed products are out of scope when used as part of other products which are not listed. However, when products are not clearly identified for end use and are sold separately, they fall within the scope of this catalogue.

 

Restricted hazardous substances**:

  • Lead and lead compounds (0,1 %)
  • Mercury and mercury compounds (0,1 %)
  • Cadmium and cadmium compounds (0,01 %)
  • Chromium VI compounds (0,1 %)
  • Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) (0,1 %)
  • Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) (0,1 %)

** Similar to the EU RoHS Directive, some applications are exempt from the substance restrictions.

 

Applicable standards (Including amendments) for all EEPs

  • Labelling – SJ/T 11364-2014
  • Requirements of concentration limits – GB/T 26572-2011
  • Test methods – GB/T 26125-2011, GB/T 29783-2013
  • Specifications for technical documentation - GB/T36560-2018

 

Europe/international

 

Standards Updates

 

Below a summary table with some recent standards updates and upcoming dates of withdrawal (non-exhaustive):

 

(*) Date of withdrawal: latest date by which national standards conflicting with an EN (and HD for CENELEC) have to be withdrawn.

 

(**) Date of availability:  date when the definitive text in the official language versions of an approved CEN/CENELEC publication is distributed by the Central Secretariat.

 

Household and similar electrical appliances

Reference

Title

Date of Withdrawal (*)

Supersedes

EN 60335-2-24:2010/A2:2019

Household and similar electrical appliances - Safety - Part 2-24: Particular requirements for refrigerating appliances, ice-cream appliances and ice makers

2019-07-11

 

EN 60335-2-24:2010/A1:2019

Household and similar electrical appliances - Safety - Part 2-24: Particular requirements for refrigerating appliances, ice-cream appliances and ice makers

 

2019-07-11

 

EN IEC 60665:2019

A.C. ventilating fans and regulators for household and similar purposes - Methods for measuring performance

2021-12-28

 

Electrical Accessories

Reference

Title

Date of Withdrawal (*)

Supersedes

EN 60898-1:2019

Electrical accessories - Circuit-breakers for overcurrent protection for household and similar installations - Part 1: Circuit-breakers for a.c. operation

2024-01-18

EN 60898-1:2003
EN 60898-1:2003/A11:2005
EN 60898-1:2003/A12:2008
EN 60898-1:2003/A13:2012
EN 60898-1:2003/A1:2004
EN 60898-1:2003/IS1:2007
EN 60898-1:2003/IS2:2007
EN 60898-1:2003/IS3:2007
EN 60898-1:2003/IS4:2007
EN 60898-1:2003/corrigendum Feb. 2004

EN IEC 61058-2-6:2019

Switches for appliances - Part 2-6: Particular requirements for switches used in electric motor-operated hand-held tools, transportable tools and lawn and garden machinery

2021-12-28

EN 61058-2-6:2016

Electronic cigarette

Reference

Title

Date of Availability (**)

Supersedes

CEN/TS 17287:2019

Requirements and test methods for electronic cigarette devices

 

2019-01-16

 

Lamps and related equipment

Reference

Title

Date of Withdrawal (*)

Supersedes

EN 60188:2001/A11:2019

High-pressure mercury vapour lamps -  Performance specifications

2021-12-26

 

Solar energy

Reference

Title

Date of Availability (**)

Supersedes

EN 62852:2015/AC:2019-02

Connectors for DC-application in photovoltaic systems - Safety requirements and tests

2019-02-01

 

 

Conformity assessment

Reference

Title

Date of Withdrawal (*)

Supersedes

EN ISO/IEC 17021-2:2018

Conformity assessment - Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems - Part 2: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of environmental management systems (ISO/IEC 17021-2:2016)

2019-06-30

CEN/CLC ISO/IEC/TS 17021-2:2016

EN ISO/IEC 17021-3:2018

Conformity assessment - Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems - Part 3: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of quality management systems (ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017)

2019-06-30

CEN/CLC ISO/IEC/TS 17021-3:2016

 

International

 

Regulatory updates

 

Below a summary table with some recent regulation proposals notified to World Trade Organization:

 

Notification number

Country

Title

G/TBT/N/CAN/576

Canada

Notice No. SMSE-17-18 - Release of ICES-005, Issue 5, Lighting Equipment.

G/TBT/N/CAN/577

Canada

Consultation of Interference-Causing Equipment Standard, ICES-003, Issue 6 (Amendment 2).

G/TBT/N/USA/1438

US

Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Certain External Power Supplies

 

Other worldwide regulatory updates

 

Below a summary table with some recent updates in legislations and proposals (non-exhaustive):

 

Date

Country

Update

24th December 2018

Taiwan

Publication of requirements for Electric Rice Cookers as standard  CNS 2518, import documentation, certification, energy efficiency within others.

28th December 2018

Chile

Chilean Ministry of Energy establishes that the following electrical products must have a certificate of approval for their commercialization in the country:

 

-         Cold and hot water dispensers

-         High pressure cleaners (between 2.5 MPa - 35MPa)

-         Portable air coolers

2nd January 2019

Thailand

From 3rd January 2019, UWB equipment with use frequency 1.6-10.3 GHz will need to be NBTC authorized ( Class A type approval) for import and selling in Thailand

8th January 2019

Argentina

From 31st December 2019, the importation and commercialization of incandescent lamps for general residential use is prohibited. It is an amendment of Law 26.473.

15th January 2019

US

New York State bill proposal A01492:

 

Requires lithium batteries of less than 1 inch in diameter and products containing such batteries to be labeled with warnings that swallowing such batteries has been known to cause death

16th January 2019

Taiwan

Announcement to amend the "Technical Specifications for Smart and High-Efficiency Lighting Systems" and to take effect from that date.

28th February 2019

Japan

From 1st April 2019, only the new version of Rules, VCCI 32-1 will remain valid for Electromagnetic compatibility of multimedia equipment - Emission requirements.