New Regulations on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products Will Be Implemented on July 1

Starting July 1st, the "Administrative Measures for the Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures"), jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and eight other ministries including the State Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, will be implemented. Compared to the "Measures for Pollution Control of Electronic Information Products" issued in 2006, the "Measures" have made significant adjustments in terms of scope of application and management methods for restricting the use of hazardous substances, and have established specific and strict regulations on the types of toxic and hazardous substances used in electrical and electronic products. According to the "Measures," entry-exit inspection and quarantine agencies will conduct port verification and statutory inspections of imported electrical and electronic products in accordance with the law. Currently, the imported electrical and electronic products under the supervision of the entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureau include computers, audio equipment, medical devices, household appliances, industrial electronic equipment, and batteries. Zhongshan City in Guangdong Province is a region with a relatively high concentration of imported electrical and electronic products. According to statistics from Zhongshan Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, more than 300 companies in Zhongshan are affected by the new regulations, and the import value of electrical and electronic products in Zhongshan exceeded US$380 million in 2015.

According to Liang Jin'an, head of the Electromechanical Products Safety Supervision Section of the Zhongshan Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, the biggest change in the new regulations is the inclusion of electrical products (not just electronic information products) within the scope of management. This means that almost all household appliances are covered by the regulations, and imported and exported products are treated equally with domestically produced ones. This will change the current situation where some import and export companies use two sets of standards for production. The regulations also specifically list importers as one of the three main types of enterprises subject to strict monitoring and penalties for violations. Furthermore, he specifically reminded importing companies that even if the final product manufacturer has a sound green supply chain management system, if the final product is found to be non-compliant with the regulations due to problems caused by upstream suppliers of components or parts, the responsibility still lies with the final product manufacturer. The responsibility of upstream suppliers is traced back by the manufacturer. This is especially important for locally assembled manufacturers of imported electronic equipment.

Given the stricter and more comprehensive requirements imposed by the new regulations on the quality and safety of various imported electrical and electronic products, importers of such products should pay sufficient attention to these new regulations, thoroughly understand their specific content, and formulate corresponding countermeasures based on their own circumstances. They should make timely adjustments to the procurement process, especially in areas related to the quality control system for hazardous substances in electrical and electronic products, such as implementing EU RoHS (RoHS refers to a mandatory standard adopted by the EU, namely the "Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment") testing and environmental protection standards. Importers should, as far as possible, directly refer to the relevant requirements of the regulations when signing supply contracts with customers and require that the testing standards and technical parameters of the regulations be included in the contract text.

Link—At the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with eight other ministries including the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, issued the "Administrative Measures for the Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products," which will officially take effect on July 1. Article 11 stipulates that entry-exit inspection and quarantine agencies shall, in accordance with the law, conduct port verification and statutory inspection of imported electrical and electronic products. Customs agencies shall verify the "Entry Goods Clearance Certificate" issued by the entry-exit inspection and quarantine agencies and process customs clearance procedures in accordance with regulations.

The Measures stipulate that electrical and electronic products are defined as equipment and related products manufactured, sold, or imported within the territory of the People's Republic of China that rely on electric current or electromagnetic fields for operation or for the purpose of generating, transmitting, and measuring electric current and electromagnetic fields, with a rated operating voltage not exceeding 1500 volts for DC and 1000 volts for AC. The scope of application of the Measures includes, but is not limited to, the following equipment types and their related products: 1. Communication equipment; 2. Radio and television equipment; 3. Computers and other office equipment; 4. Household electrical and electronic equipment; 5. Electronic instruments and meters; 6. Industrial electrical and electronic equipment; 7. Power tools; 8. Medical electronic equipment and instruments; 9. Lighting products; 10. Electronic educational, toy, arts and crafts, sports, and entertainment products. Hazardous substances refer to the following substances contained in electrical and electronic products: 1. Lead and its compounds; 2. Mercury and its compounds; 3. Cadmium and its compounds; 4. Hexavalent chromium compounds; 5. Polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs); 6. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs); 7. Other hazardous substances stipulated by the State.