On Jan 6, the Administrative Measures on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products was promulgated via Joint Order No.32 of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Ministry of Finance (MOF), Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), General Administration of Customs (GAC) and General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ). The new regulation will enter into force on Jul 1, 2016 and replace Administrative Measures on the Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products published in 2006 (former MII etc. Joint Order 39).

MIIT started revising Order 39 (2006) in Apr, 2010 and 3 drafts have been published for public consultation since then. The major changes to the regulatory regime were made in the 2012 draft version. No significant difference is seen between the last draft issued in 2015 and final version of Order 32 (2016) except that the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) is no longer involved.

Major regulatory reforms include:

1. Expansion of the applicable scope

The applicable scope now covers all electrical and electronic products (EEP) in addition to electronic information products (EIP). The definition of an EEP is given in Article 3(1).

2. Expansion of the regulated substances

The new China RoHS regulation clarifies restricted substances, which include lead (Ld) and its compounds, mercury (Hg) and its compounds, cadmium (Cd) and its compounds, and hexavalent chromium (chromium VI) and its compounds. (Article 5)

3. New R&D and financial support policies

Specified in Order 32, China encourages and supports scientific research, technology development and international cooperation related to restriction on the use of hazardous substances in EEPs. (Article 7 & 8)

4. Improvement of the management mode

“Qualification Management Catalogue” will be formulated by the 8 authorities to restrict the use of the designated hazardous substances in EEPs while the “Catalogue of EIPs under Priority Pollution Control Management” will be repealed. The listed products will be subject to qualification assessment in accordance with a qualification scheme established by China Certification and Accreditation Administration (CNCA) and MIIT. The assessment result will be taken as admissible evidence in the social credit system.