Approving Technical Regulation on Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment, Decision No. 113, 2016

On 26 December 2016, the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EAEU) published Decision No. 113 Approving the Technical Regulation on Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment.  The Technical Regulation is aligned with EU Directive 2011/65/EU on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), and aims to protect the consumer, the environment, and human life and health.

The Regulation applies to electrical and electronic equipment listed in Annex 1 of the Regulation. The products listed include inter alia

• electrical apparatus and instruments used for domestic purposes;
• electronic computers;
• telecommunications equipment;
• electrical office equipment;
• electric power tools;
• lighting equipment;
• gaming and vending machines;
• cables, wires and cords for use with rated voltage up to 500 V AC;
• automatic switches and protective devices; and
• fire alarm detectors.

The Regulation does not apply to the following:

• products designed for use at nominal voltage exceeding 1000 V AC or 1500 V DC unless otherwise provided in Annex 1;
• products designed solely for use as components of electrical and electronic equipment that are not listed in Annex 1;
• electric toys;
• photovoltaic panels/solar panels used as part of the electrical and electronic equipment;
• products designed to be used in land-based and orbiting space objects;
• products intended solely for the use of air, water, ground and underground transport;
• electric batteries;
• used electrical and electronic equipment;
• measuring instruments; and
• medical devices

The Regulation establishes requirements for allowable concentrations of certain specified hazardous substances in electronic and electrical products in Annexes 2 and 3. The substances listed are lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers.

The Regulation further establishes requirements on labeling and conformity assessment. Upon confirmation of conformity, products can be sold in the territory of the Member State. The Certificate of Conformity can only be issued by certification bodies entered in the Unified Register of certification bodies and testing laboratories of the Customs Union. Electrical and electronics products are subject to declaration of conformity in accordance with certain specified schemes.

Moreover, all products must be labeled with the following information:

• name and (or) product designation and type, make, model (if any)
• main parameters and characteristics,
• the name and (or) trademark of the manufacturer,
• the name of the State in which the product is made (either on the product or specified in the attached operational documents) .

If the information above cannot be applied to the product, it can be specified in the accompanying documentation. All labeling should be legible and easy to read. All labeling and content of operational documents must be drafted in Russian and the official languages of the EAEU Member States in whose territory the products are sold.

In addition, all products in scope must be marked with the EAEU single certification mark prior to being placed on the market.

The Decision enters into force on 25 January 2017, 30 days after its publication, whilst the Technical Regulation enters into force on 1 March 2018.