Introduction to Taiwan RoHS

Taiwan

Introduction to Taiwan RoHS

Little Pro on 2016-09-21

15 Aug 2013, The Bureau of Standard, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) published a voluntary national standard CNS 15663 Guidance to reduction of the restricted chemical substances in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). CN15663 sets the scope of EEE products affected, the concentration limits of 6 hazardous substances and how to mark the presence of hazardous substances in EEE products. Since the standard is very similar to China RoHS regulation and EU RoHS regulation, it is often called Taiwan RoHS. In this article, we will talk about the scope of Taiwan RoHS, hazardous substance marking requirement and comparison with EU RoHS.

Scope of Taiwan RoHS

Taiwan RoHS applies to both large and small household appliances, IT and telecommunications equipment (including computers), consumer equipment, lighting equipment, electronic and electronic tools (except large scale stationary industrial tools), toys, leisure and sports equipment and automatic dispensers. National security or military use equipments, non-electrically driven equipments, fixed installation equipments and batteries are out of scope.

It shall be noted that CN15663 is a voluntary standard. Evaluation of CN15663 compliance is only mandatory for certain EEE products that are subject to mandatory inspection under the Commodity Inspection Act and announced by BMSI.

Taiwan RoHS Restricted Substances

Taiwan RoHS currently restricts the same 6 hazardous substances as EU RoHS 2 (except phthalates).

Status	Substances and Limits
Current Restrictions	Cadmium(Cd) and its compounds: 0.01% Mercury and its compounds: 0.1% Lead(Pb) and its compounds : 0.1% Hexavalent chromium (Cr6+) and its compounds: 0.1% Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB): 0.1 %; Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE): 0.1 %

EEE products and their parts which contain certain hazardous substances exceeding above limits can still be sold in Taiwan provided that the presence of hazardous substances in affected products is marked. The names and content of the hazardous substances and affected components can be disclosed in a hazardous substance content table (see example below).

BMSI has also published two testing standards for above controlled substances: CNS 15050 Electro technical products-Determination of levels of six regulated substances (lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls, polybrominated diphenyl ethers) and CNS 15479 Method for determination of mercury level in fluorescent lamps.

Taiwan RoHS: Hazardous Substances Marking

The table below is an example of how to mark the presence of hazardous substances in EEE products by components. Companies shall clearly mark the hazardous substance content table on the body, packages, stickers, or the instruction books of the affected EEE products. Those who utilize website as a means to announce “the presence conditions of the restricted substances” shall clearly mark the website address on the body, packages, stickers, or the instruction books of the products.

Taiwan RoHS

Taiwan RoHS: Commodity Inspection Mark

For EEE products subject to mandatory inspection under the Commodity Inspection Act, BSMI could add RoHS compliance requirements to the mandatory conformity assessment scheme. Currently (as of 25 Aug 2016), the following products are subject to mandatory compliance with CN15663:

From 1 Dec 2016 - drinking fountains;
From 1 July 2017 – IT equipment, including automatic data processing machines, printers, photocopying machines, televisions and monitors. Also proposed for this date are projectors and lighting equipment, such as fluorescent tubes; and
From 1 January 2018 – word processors, such as typewriters and cashiers (43 items in total) and wireless items, such as keyboards, mice and scanners (48 items in total).
From 1 July 2018 - eight more items, including air conditioners and lighting

For products that have passed mandatory inspections, a modified BSMI Commodity Inspection Mark (see example below) needs to be put on the products in a prominent location. Basically it is an add-on to the current BSMI Commodity Inspection Mark to show the absence or presence of RoHS restricted substance in the product.

Taiwan RoHS mark

Each mark bears a 5-digit identification number starting with R or T. The identification number and RoHS sign shall be placed to the below or right of the graphic symbol;
RoHS means that all 6 hazardous substances do not exceed specified concentration limits;
RoHS(XX,XX) means that the product contains certain hazardous substances that have exceeded specified concentration limits. For example, RoHS (Pb, Hg) indicates that the product contains Pb and Hg that have exceeded concentration limits.

Taiwan RoHS vs EU RoHS 2

Items	Taiwan RoHS	EU RoHS 2
Scope	Voluntary for applicable electronic and electrical products; Mandatory for some EEE products announced by BMSI.	Mandatory for all electronic and electrical products except those that are exempt;
Restricted Substances	6 substances;	6 + 4 phthalates (added in 2015);
Marking	Hazardous substance content table + Commodity Inspection Mark	CE Mark + WEEE Mark;
Conformity Assessment	RoHS compliance is part of Commodity Inspection Mark requirement for selected products.	Self-declaration accepted. RoHS compliance is part of CE mark requirement.

References

RoHS in Other Countries

Country	Summary & Reference
China	China RoHS 2.0: The Administrative Measures for the Restriction of the Use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products (Being drafted). Applicable to products listed in the catalogue of electrical and electronic products; Restricts the same 6 hazardous substances as EU RoHS 2.0; Additional RoHS labelling requirements set by SJ/T 11364-2014; More info about China RoHS 2.0.
Japan	Japan RoHS: JIS C 0950 The marking for presence of the specific chemical substances for electrical and electronic equipment; Applicable to 7 types of electrical and electronic products; Mandatory disclosure and labeling if the content of 6 hazardous substances exceeds certain limits; Read more about Japan RoHS
Korea	Korea RoHS: The Act for Resource Recycling of Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Vehicles (2007); Korea's version of the RoHS, WEE and ELV directives; Restricts the same 6 hazardous substances as EU RoHS 2.0; More info about Korean RoHS
Singapore	SG RoHS: Amended Environmental Protection and Management Act (2016) ; Restricts the same 6 hazardous substances as EU RoHS 2.0; More info about Singapore RoHS.
USA	No federal RoHS-style legislation; California's Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 (EWRA) prohibits the sale of some electronic devices after January 1, 2007, that are prohibited from being sold under the EU RoHS directive; The substances restricted are "certain heavy metals," specifically lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium; Reference

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