Industry engagement in second stakeholder consultation on the RoHS Directive urgently required
The European Commission has published a Stakeholder Consultation as part of the current review of the RoHS Directive which may lead to wide ranging enlargement of the scope of RoHS, changes in interpretation and processes. ERA strongly urges industry to take part in this consultation before it closes on the 13 February 2008.

More products to be regulated under the Ecodesign (EuP) Directive
The Working Plan of the EuP Directive will define the next wave of products to be considered for regulation. A study has just been published identifying 34 priority categories of equipment for potential inclusion.

China WEEE law published
China has published its WEEE recycling laws placing the main obligations on the producer as in the EU but with significant variation. It enters force on the 1 February 2008.

Features

Forensic investigation: the right camera for the right job
Whatever the nature of a failure analysis task, optical inspection is almost always required. This might be simply recording the initial state of the object or product before more destructive processes are carried out, or part of a more detailed examination of specific parts at a much smaller scale. Having an armoury of different imaging methods to hand is essential if the demands of the wide range of failure analysis subjects are to be met.

The RoHS exemption process - status and review of trends
While the RoHS Directive provides for exemptions on the grounds of certain limited technical and environmental, health and safety grounds, it was not anticipated by the Commission that this would be anything other than in exceptional circumstances. In reality, over 160 requests for exemptions have been published to date with formal decisions published on only 30.

REACH - guidance on article requirements and substance concentrations
The new REACH chemical regulation puts obligations on the importer or manufacturer of an article in the EU depending on the concentration of substances in contains. Final draft guidance has just been published.

Course: Practical Implementation of a Product Safety Strategy
Date: 4 March 2008 - venue Leatherhead, UK
Rapid developments in technology, complexity of designs and an increasing use of software mean that designing safe and legal products is becoming increasingly difficult. This course will guide you through the minefield of European directives and legislation, highlighting your legal and moral responsibilities. Attendance will help you understand and put into practice the fundamentals of safe design, illustrated through practical examples and case studies.

REACH compliance and hazardous substance restrictions - an ERA guide for the electrical products industry, 2nd Edition
Edition 2 of ERA’s popular guide to REACH for the electrical product sector is now available and has been extensively revised to cover developments in interpretation and expanded to provide more detail on scope, authorisation, registration and authorisation costs, downstream user requirements, identifying SVHCs, and a detailed index of the Regulation and its articles.

What's new in edition 2 >>>

China WEEE regulations, Sept 2007 - new ERA translation
China’s regulations covering the take back and treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) have been published in Chinese and are available as a translation into English from ERA. The law covers the requirements which must be met by manufacturers, importers and sellers of EEE, and by recyclers, and the penalties which arise. The law enters force on the 1 February 2008.

Further information >>>

New - WEEE Implementation in the EU - a comparison of requirements
The EU WEEE Directive (2002/96/EC) is notorious for the variations in national implementation leading to unnecessary costs and uncertainty for industry as it tries to comply. This document comprises a comprehensive single page summary table covering the essential requirements from visible fees to registration in all 27 EU Member States plus Norway and Switzerland.

Further information >>>