Industry aims for RoHS exemption

A campaign is under way to exempt the flame retardant Deca-BDE from the Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive.

EU Member States voted on 19th April on the Commission's proposal for a decision to exempt the flame retardant Deca-BDE from the Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive.

The majority of EU Member State votes were in favour of Deca-BDE's exemption from the RoHS Directive.

The proposal did not reach the necessary qualified majority (72.3% of the votes) to be adopted immediately.

The proposal will now be sent to the EU Council of Ministers which will have a maximum three months to adopt a decision.

EBFRIP is encouraged by this positive vote which demonstrates significant member state support for the Commission's proposal and welcomes this step forward towards adoption of Deca-BDE's exemption from the RoHS Directive.

The prospects for Deca-BDE's exemption are now strong.

To reject the Commission's proposal, the council would have to oppose it by more than 70% of the vote, i.e a significant reversal of positions compared with the vote in committee.

EBFRIP calls on the council to confirm the Commission's proposal to exempt Deca-BDE from the RoHS Directive so as to take into account the closure of a 10-year EU scientific risk assessment of Deca-BDE in May 2004 which identified no risks for the environment or health.

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