Help is available for manufacturers and suppliers working to meet China’s Ministry of Information Industry’s RoHS Initiative’s Phase I deadline on March 1, 2007. TUV Rheinland of North America can test, submit and mark products to meet the initiative’s strict environmental compliance requirements within a two-week timeframe. The company offers Chinese translation of official submittal documents as part of the complete package.
The new guideline, created to minimize waste and environmental impact, requires several standards and regulatory measures not seen in Europe’s RoHS Directive. Most impacted by the initiative are electronic equipment OEMs in numerous major categories, including medical, semiconductor, consumer good and industrial, which must now demonstrate conformance. Noncompliance can effectively block a manufacturer or supplier from distributing a product to China.
TUV Rheinland has the infrastructure to provide full RoHS evaluation and documentation services for the new regulations. In this process, the company finishes mandatory product testing and then answers the required Chinese documentation (material/component declaration) in English. The office then sends the paperwork to TÜV Rheinland Group’s Hong Kong office for translation into simplified Chinese. Additionally, TUV Rheinland’s product testers can recommend appropriate marking requirements for the product. These marks note the concentration levels of banned substances in the product’s components as well as the product’s safe-to-use period.