Jiwei Ye, JPMorgan Chase Vastera’s vice president, Asia Pacific Operations, is alerting the industry that non-compliance with the new China RoHS can mean frozen supply chains, lost revenues, fines and damage to corporate reputations. Manufacturers of electronic and electrical products containing any of six toxic and hazardous substances are restricted and prohibited from shipping them into China. They are lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chrominium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenylether (PBDE).
Ye points out that the Chinese RoHS is a bit more stringent than those of the European Union. It has requirements for marking, restrictions on packaging and production materials and requirements for testing and certification. It also embraces a wide range of goods, running from medical products through automotive electronics and on to large scale manufacturing equipment and some consumables, among others.
Regulations will be imposed in two steps. During the first phase, electronic products must meet the marking, labeling and material disclosure requirements. The disclosure must be written in Chinese.
