As industrialized nations enact legislation to protect the environment, electronics manufacturers and suppliers react – and make efforts to comply

Upcoming Arrow RoHS Seminars Arrow hosts informational seminars for its customers, covering China RoHS and other upcoming environmental regulations. The seminars cover: Information to comply with the new demands of China RoHS; Differences between China and EU regulations; China’s documentation and certification requirements; and Other nations’ future environmental regulatory issues. The seminars also address how component suppliers are responding and what Arrow is doing to meet the increased supply chain informational requirements of its customers as a result of the new environmental regulations. For a complete listing of seminars, click here.

Arrow Can Help Arrow’s Component Information Services help customers review information that electronic components suppliers have provided, detailing each individual component’s RoHS status and other information to help customers make informed design, manufacturing and procurement decisions.  The services provide engineers and materials management professionals with time- and cost- saving features, such as the ability to easily transition an entire Bill of Materials to RoHS compliance.  For more information, visit www.arrow.com/green

For many companies involved with buying, selling and manufacturing of electrical and electronic equipment around the globe, new environmental legislation has come into effect, with more to come –dramatically impacting the way these companies can do business.

On July 1, 2006, the European Union (EU) enacted the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive, which establishes limits for the use of six hazardous materials in electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market in the 27-member European Union.

Now, another deadline has hit. On March 1, 2007, China’s “Administration on the Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products” legislation went into effect. More commonly known as China RoHS, the new regulations initially require hazardous substance identification labeling on products and its packaging.

Later in the year, China RoHS regulations will likely restrict the same six substances as those identified in Europe RoHS – lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers – and possibly more. Certain products will need to be tested and certified in one of 18 or more China Compulsory Certification laboratories before the product can be placed on the market.

Businesses once again are reacting to the new requirements, and gearing up for compliance. As with Europe RoHS, businesses must carefully manage the increasing costs of compliance, in research and development, production line upgrades and in component replacement. Electronic component suppliers and distributors must oversee warehousing and distribution issues, dealing with “before” and “after” RoHS versions of the same components. In many cases this means separating EU RoHS from China RoHS from non-RoHS compliant parts. And manufacturers and their suppliers will need to update environmental data reporting and tracking procedures.

“For businesses, the key to successful RoHS-transition planning is based on access to timely and reliable information; communication with supply partners; and the flexibility to adjust its approach to research, development, manufacturing, and sales and marketing,” said Debra Boelkes, who leads the China RoHS global initiatives for Arrow Electronics.

Once they are ready for China, businesses will turn their attention to South Korea, which has announced its intention to introduce similar environmental legislation. Some states in the United States also are moving toward RoHS-like regulations, such as California, which, as of January 1, 2007, implemented RoHS legislation pertaining to display devices. And, several states in the United States – and other nations – are enacting legislation similar to the Europe’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive, which puts responsibility on manufacturers to take back equipment at the end of its lifecycle, to recycle parts and safely dispose of toxic materials.

As a global distributor and service provider in the electronic components and computer products industries, Arrow Electronics is well positioned to work together with its more than 600 suppliers and to help guide its more than 140,000 customers toward environmental compliance by raising awareness of RoHS and other upcoming initiatives through education and consultation.

“Arrow has the global commitment and is a trusted supply chain partner to customers and suppliers around the world,” adds Boelkes.

Key Dates

China effective date for labeling requirements	March 1, 2007
China standards document development and availability, including material concentration limits, labeling, test methods, solder components, labeling provisions and substance restrictions	In Process
EU new Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) legislation	June 1, 2007
EU new Energy Using Products Directive	Aug. 11, 2007
Korea RoHS development and effective deadline	As early as Mid-2007 to Jan. 2008
China finalization of pre-market certification procedures	Year-end 2007

For more information, visit www.arrow.com/green for Arrow’s Environmental Compliance Research Center RoHS, WEEE and other Green Initiatives.