Update of the regulations on the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic products

On October 25, 2021, a draft amendment to the technical regulation TR EAEU 037/2016 "On the restriction of the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic products" was published on the website of the Eurasian Economic Union. The public discussion on the project is scheduled from November 19, 2021 to January 21, 2022.

What is the purpose of implementing the changes?

The purpose of introducing these changes is to clarify some provisions of the regulations. This action will extend its scope of application to measuring instruments of chemical current sources and general areas of application with an indication of exceptions. The new version of the regulations will update the requirements for the supervision of the nomenclature of hazardous substances and the limitation of their content in electrical and radio-electronic products.

What are the exceptions to the regulations?

In the discussed draft of changes, there are exceptions that are not subject to the provisions of the regulations. These include, among others, photovoltaic panels and products intended for systems that are designed, assembled and installed by specialists for permanent use at a specific location to generate solar energy for government, commercial, industrial and domestic consumers.

The project also envisages supplementing the list of non-regulated products with large on-site production devices, on-site installations, as well as spare parts or components for electrical and radio-electronic devices included in the list provided for in Annex 1, if there is a document confirming the compliance of the finished product with the requirements of the regulations.

Extension of the list of hazardous substances

The list of Annex 2 to the regulation will be supplemented with 4 new types of hazardous substances, the permissible concentration of which in electrotechnical and radio-electronic products may not be exceeded. It is about:

  • Diethylhexyl phthalate

  • Butylbenzyl phthalate

  • Dibutyl phthalate

  • Diisobutyl phthalate

The permissible value for all four indicators is not more than 0.1% of weight.

New requirements for the disposal of electrical and electronic products

Also, many new terms contained in the draft amendments to the regulations in question apply to the disposal of electrical and electronic products. The addition to the document of many new terms, such as "waste electrical and radio-electronic products", "marking with the symbol of separate waste collection" and others is being planned as well. The symbol of separate waste collection will have to be placed on the product or its packaging and indicated in the documents attached to it. A specimen of the sign is included in Annex 5 to the new edition of the Regulations: