Article 4.1 - Prevention
" Member States shall ensure that, from 1 July 2006,
new electrical and electronic equipment put on the market
does not contain lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium,
polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) or polybrominated diphenyl
ethers (PBDE). National measures restricting or prohibiting
the use of these substances in electrical and electronic equipment
which were adopted in line with Community legislation before
the adoption of this Directive may be maintained until 1 July
2006.
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Simplified
This is the first mention within the Directive of the substances
that are to be restricted, although there is no reference
to the permissible concentration of each substance. These
details, though late in coming, are defined within a Commission
Decision 2005/618/EC. Article 4.1 also defines the date of
enforcement – July 1st 2006. Equipment put on the market
on 30th June 2006 may contain any or all of the substances
restricted by RoHS. The same equipment put on the market a
day later (July 1st 2006) must comply fully with the requirements
of the Directive (if falling within the scope). There is no
distinction as to how long a product has been in manufacture
nor does RoHS only apply to new product releases.
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See
also:
Put on the market
Commission
Decision 2005/618/EC
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Article 4.3 - Prevention
"On the basis of a proposal from the Commission, the
European Parliament and the Council shall decide, as soon
as scientific evidence is available, and in accordance with
the principles on chemicals policy as laid down in the Sixth
Community Environment Action Programme, on the prohibition
of other hazardous substances and the substitution thereof
by more environment-friendly alternatives which ensure at
least the same level of protection for consumers."
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Simplified
The directive in its present form restricts six substances
in total. This article suggests that the list of banned materials
will increase as scientific evidence demonstrates that less
toxic substances are viable alternatives for existing materials,
which have been proven to be harmful to human and animal health,
or to the environment.
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