Commercial Information Circulars

24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

e-mail address : enquiry@tid.gov.hk

Ref : Sub-file(A) to EIC 230/2/11

25 June 2009

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 326/2009

European Union (EU)* : Amendment to the Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment

Further to Commercial Information Circular No. 316/2009 of 22 June 2009, the European Commission (the Commission) has adopted a Decision to amend the exemption for the application of lead as impurity in Rare earth Iron Garnet (RIG) Faraday rotators used for fibre optic communication systems from the requirement of the Directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). Details are set out in Commission Decision 2009/428/EC (the Decision). The Decision can be accessed through the following link:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:139:0032:0033:EN:PDF

DETAILS

2. Commercial Information Circular No.340/2005 of 24 August 2005 informed the trade that from 1 July 2006, new EEE put on the market should not contain lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls or polybrominated diphenyl ethers over certain prescribed levels. However, certain materials and components containing these hazardous substances can be exempted from the prohibition if the elimination or substitution of these substances is impracticable. The application of lead as impurity in RIG Faraday rotators used for fibre optic communication systems is one of the items on the list of exemptions.

3. Having carried out a technical and scientific assessment, the Commission considers that RIG Faraday rotators which meet the maximum concentration levels are currently available. Hence, the exemption of RIG Faraday rotators for EEE could be waived. To allow sufficient time for producers to shift to qualified RIG Faraday rotators, the exemption for application of lead as impurity in RIG Faraday rotators used for fibre optic communication systems remains applicable until 31 December 2009. For details of the revised exemption, please refer to the Annex of the Decision.

ENQUIRIES

4. For enquiries concerning the content of this circular, please contact the undersigned at telephone number 2398 5556.

Yours faithfully,

(Miss Peggy LEUNG)
for Director-General of Trade and Industry

* The EU includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.