EU rules to hit home appliance exports

EU rules to hit home appliance exports
By Xie Chuanjiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-07-11 08:54

"The trend towards green products is not a fashion anymore and the pressure to adhere to environmentally friendly standards is rapidly increasing and getting more and more sophisticated and complicated," said Oliver Butler, vice-president of France's Bureau Veritas, a global leader in conformity assessment for quality, health, safety, environment and social responsibility.

"It will become the hot topic for all electrical and electronics manufacturers. We strongly recommend companies establish a profound RoHS management system.

"With improved management and control in the whole production chain, including raw materials, design, production, packaging and even distribution, their products can meet the RoHS directive much easier," Butler added.

Statistics from China's Ministry of Commerce show that joint ventures and large domestic enterprises produce 75 per cent of the country's electronics exports.

Since many of these companies have already begun integrating environmental and health considerations into their operations, they will have an easier time complying.

Many firms, including Sony, Haier, Hisense and TCL, are already making full preparations for the new directives.

On the legislative side, China has begun participating in international standards discussions. To date, it has developed 6,500 national product standards in line with international standards, or 40 per cent of the national total.

"Such regulations will have a growing effect on our export trade, and the participation will have our voices heard globally," said MII official Huang Jianzhong.

Moreover, following the EU's RoHS directive, the Chinese version of RoHS, jointly regulated by seven ministries, is to take effect on March 1 next year.

The regulation is likely to be broader in scope and even more comprehensive than the EU directive.

It will apply to every participant in the electronics supply chain, from manufacturers and distributors to importers and retailers. The new law will require every product to be tested before it is allowed entry into China, according to Huang.

"The Chinese version of RoHS will work as a barrier to foreign products that have been turned down by the EU market but manufacturers hope to dump into our country.

"It will provide protection for mainland consumers' benefits as well, as it will ban companies from selling quality products to the EU, while marketing inferior ones on the domestic market," Huang continued.

"Despite current costs increasing and exports decreasing, in the long-run the new EU electronics standards will play an active role in encouraging Chinese companies to pursue more sustainable product development," said Wang Ning, vice-president of Chinese Electronic Chamber of Commerce.

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