China - Regulation and Legislation

The electronics industry is one of the most rapidly developing sectors in China.

Industry issues, especially those related to end-of-life management are of increasing interest to government officials.

China Promulgates "RoHS Plus" Laws
On February 28, 2006 six government ministries of the Peoples Republic of China announced the long-anticipated “Administrative Measure on the Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products,” or China RoHS, as it is commonly called. An unofficial translation is available.   The goal of the Administrative Measures is to make companies disclose and control the use of “Hazardous” and “Toxic” Substances Control. While China is initially focusing on the same six substances as the European Union (EU) Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS), the government reserves the right to add substances in the future, although there are no current plans to do so. While the Administrative Measures requirements are similar to the RoHS Directive, there are many significant differences. The Administrative Measures apply to all “electronic information products” which are listed on the Ministry of Information Industry of the People’s Republic of China (MII) website.  An unofficial translation is available.  In addition to the measures, a number of standards will be developed including Labeling requirement, Maximum concentration values (MCV), and Testing methods.

The first part of the Administrative Measures implement the disclosure portion of the regulations.  Effective March 1, 2006, all EIP must be labeled in accord with the marking standards.

The second portion of the Administrative Measures will control the use of hazardous and toxic substances through substance restrictions.  Only EIP listed in a yet-to-be-published catalog will be subject to the substance restrictions.  The restricted substances and their allowable concentration values are expected to be similar to those required under the EU RoHS.  Items listed in the catalog will need to undergo pre-market certification and laboratory testing through the CCC mark system. 

In December 2007, a meeting was held with China’s Ministry of Information Industry (MII) and industry stakeholders in Beijing. The objective of the meeting was to gather stakeholder comments and recommendations on the development of the China RoHS Catalog.  ANSI has provided a summary of the meeting, which you can download.

The following highlights some key points from the December meeting. MII is currently deliberating over which products should be included in the catalog. The catalog will specifically define which Electronic Information Products (EIPs) are subject to materials restrictions, the thresholds for the materials restrictions, and the date of enforcement for the restrictions. MII stated that catalog entries will be based on technical and economical feasibility. The published catalog may start off with only one or two products with the list expanding over time. There is discussion at MII on which products should be featured in the catalog. For example, there is uncertainty over whether the entire product, components or materials should be listed in the catalog, and if there should be exemptions for certain products such as home appliances or commercial products. MII is also exploring establishment of a RoHS 3C (China Compulsory Certification) certification system for products in the catalog. While the timetable for the catalog remains unclear, it will most likely be published by the end of 2008. For more information, view the full ANSI report.