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Background and Objectives

The Annex to the RoHS Directive currently lists 29 applications of lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium, which are exempted from the Directive’s substance restrictions. Materials and components can be exempted if their elimination or substitution via design changes or materials and components which do not require any of the restricted materials or substances is technically or scientifically impracticable, or where the negative environmental, health and/or consumer safety impacts caused by substitution out­weigh the environmental, health and/or consumer safety benefits thereof.

On the basis of this provision, the Commission has received (and is still receiving) additional requests for applications to be exempted from the requirements of the Directive from in­dustry. These requests need to be evaluated in order to assess whether they fulfil the above mentioned requirements. Where the requirements are fulfilled the Commission proposes a Draft Decision amending the RoHS Directive and its Annex.

Furthermore, the Commission shall carry out a review of each exemption listed in the Annex at least every four years or four years after an item is added to the list. Thus, also the deletion of materials and components of electrical and electronic equipment from the existing Annex has to be considered if their elimination or substitution is possible with regard to the criteria listed above. As the RoHS Directive has entered into force on 1 July 2006, this review shall be done by 2010.

With regard to the above, the Commission has contracted Öko-Institut together with Fraunhofer IZM in order to fulfil the following objectives:

• Execute a clear assessment on whether a number of requests (5–10) for exemptions are justi­fied in line with the exemption criteria given in Article 5 (1) (b) of the RoHS Directive;

• Perform a detailed review of existing exemptions listed in the Annex of the RoHS Directive based on the exemption criteria;

• Provide the involvement and consultation of stakeholders, including set up and continuous maintenance of an account / a website;

• Forward received comments to the Technical Adaptation Committee;

• Provide a clear and unambiguous wording for the preparation of a Draft Commission Decision for those exemptions where an exemption can be or furthermore is justified.