The high-tech industry is global in its operations and sourcing, and in manufacturing products all over the world, – sending parts and components across one border or ocean to be altered and sent over another. Harmonization of common hazardous substance restriction requirements is essential to facilitate global access of RoHS compliant materials, components and electronic and electrical products with the high level of confidence of meeting regulatory objectives at minimum cost to the supply chain. AeA RoHS Harmonization Principles are an important element of an industry effort to have existing or planned hazardous substance restriction regulations harmonized.

The AeA International Environment Committee has the following subcommittees which function as working groups. These subcommittees develop position papers, comment letters, education events, and work closely with government agencies as representatives from the high tech industry on international environment matters.

• China RoHS
• International Electronics Recycling (EU WEEE and China WEEE)
• Product Lifecycle and Design/Energy Efficiency
• International Chemical Regulations (REACH, SAICM)
• Global Substance Restrictions - EU, China, Japan, Korea and the U.S.

The AeA International Environment committee works closely with the U.S. Environment Protection Agency, the US Department of Commerce and the Office of the United State Trade Representative. The committee meets twice a year, bringing in guest speakers. The subcommittees also provide updates on their work during these meetings. On a daily basis, committee members are kept abreast of international environment issues via emails covering new articles, new regulations and hearings on Capitol Hill.
 

AeA and Allen & Overy, LLP announce the NEW EU Environmental Law Compliance Website at 50% discount for AeA members.  The EU Environmental Law Compliance Website is a new online service to assist companies trying to comply with the European Union Directives on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE Directive) and on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (the RoHS Directive). Click here to learn more.
 

AeA co-sponsored: U.S. – China Environmental Policy Forum, July 6, 2007, Qingdao, China 

AeA, together with CEA, ITI and USITO, sponsored the U.S. – China Environmental Policy Forum on July 6, 2007 in Qingdao, China in conjunction with SINOCES. This event provided a unique opportunity for U.S. and Chinese government and high-tech industry leaders to discuss and manage the extremely important environmental regulation and compliance process together. Panel discussions includes topics such as Green Government Procurement, Environmental Regulations on Electronics Products and Industry Stewardship. Below are highlights of the panelist's presentations:

Ms. Donna Sadowy, AMD: Why is Green Government Procurement important to industry and how do Green Procurement initiatives encourage companies to make the move towards green manufacturing or production? 

Ms. Becky Linder, AeA, (American Electronics Association): U.S. Industry views on China Administrative Measures on the Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products.

Mr. Angus Robinson, Australian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association (AEEMA): Status update on APEC RoHS Initiative on Harmonization.

Mr. Charlie Z. Wang VP, Hisense Group, Chinese Industry Representative: How Chinese industry is engaged in responsible e-waste and design for recycling practices and other initiatives to promote sustainability.

Mr. Scott Zhao, Intel: How U.S. industry is engaged in responsible e-waste and design for recycling practices and other initiatives to promote sustainability.

Lin Lee, Senior Director Global Government Strategy Asia Pacific: Sustainable Computing at Sun. 

For more information, please contact Michaela Muranova Chen at Michaela_Muranova@aeanet.org or (202) 682-4445.


AeA organizes International Environment Compliance Programs in Chicago, Portland and Boston 

On April, 23, 25 and 27, 2007 AeA held it’s annual “International Environment Compliance Program: Update on WEEE, RoHS, REACH and EuP” in Chicago, Portland and Boston respectively. The events drew a crowd of over 200 total attendees from various cities and states around the country. 

The speakers provided update and analysis of European Environmental regulations, such as the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) and Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, both of which are currently undergoing a review in preparation for a revision most likely to be presented in 2008. As the European Union continues introducing new regulations, our program expanded to cover overview of the Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) directive and how it will specifically affect the US High tech industry and specific companies. The other fairly new and broad directive covered at this conference is Energy Using Products (EuP) Directive, which establishes a framework for setting eco- design requirements for energy-using products. Building on AeA’s leadership on “China RoHS”, formally known as Management Methods for Controlling Pollution by Electronic Information Products, AeA provided a comprehensive overview of the China RoHS Labelling and information disclosure requirements, as well as outline of the next steps, such as Catalogue drafting, certification process and enforcement expectations. With the RoHS-like regulations being introduced or discussed around the world, our presenters provided update on the developments in various countries like Korea, Australia, Argentina, and US states where regulations have been adopted or introduced in a last couple of years.

The program once again included Steve Andrews, from the United Kingdom’s Department of Trade and Industry, providing an update on European environment regulatory developments. We had two US and two European experts from Allen & Overy speaking on the EU environment regulations with a specific focus on RoHS and WEEE directives as well as Becky Linder, representing AeA in Beijing, presenting on China RoHS. Industry speakers included representatives from AeA member companies, such as Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, Intel Motorola, Tektronix and others.

For more information on the program contact Michaela Muranova Chen at Michaela_Muranova@aeanet.org.

AeA International Environment Committee Meeting

On March 29, 2007 AeA held its International Environment Committee meeting in Santa Clara, CA. Meeting was well attended and provided an update on various issues, such as China RoHS, European regulations, Energy efficiency, global RoHS initiatives and domestic environmental legislation. Speakers included Tad Ferris, Partner at Holland & Knight, LLP, Robert Straetz from the US Department of Commerce, Skip Laitner from American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), John Shoaff from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and others. To review the meeting agenda and presentations provided by the speakers and discussion leaders at this meeting, please click here. For additional information, please contact Michaela Muranova Chen at Michaela_Muranova@aeanet.org. 

Questions and Answers from October 26, 2006 AeA China RoHS Conference

AeA is pleased to announce that over 80 questions raised at the October 26, 2006 AeA Santa Clara, CA China RoHS program have been addressed in a single document. The information contained in this document includes a summary of "China RoHS" information that is found in industry technical standards and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) documents published by the Ministry of Information Industry (MII), and compiled by the AeA- Advancing the Business of Technology. AeA is sharing this document with MII for their comments. This document is a living document that can be changed as updates, clarifications and final regulatory and standards documents are published. None of the information offered in this document should be viewed as legal or compliance advice from AeA, but rather as an informational summary of current "China RoHS" developments and available information from MII. References to Ministry of Information Industry (MII) laws and FAQ Documents are English translations for information purposes only. Binding versions of these laws and documents are the original Chinese versions. Click here to review.

AeA China RoHS Program Draws 250 Attendees to Hear China MII Delegation on Impending Environment Rules

On October 26, 2006, AeA hosted a half-day conference at Sun Microsystems in Santa Clara, CA, on China RoHS (regulations restricting the use of certain substances in the production of electronic information products) that drew over 250 people from across the country.  They came to hear presentations by the primary drafters and implementers of the regulation from the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry (MII).  With the impending effective date of March 1, 2007, companies were eagerly seeking more information and clarification of the requirements they will have to meet for their products to be compliant.
 

Summit on Global Product Design Initiatives

This one-of-a-kind Summit provided participants the unique opportunity to hear from leading country experts from China, India, Korea, Japan, Canada, France, the Netherlands and the U.S. describe the environmental product design issues (e.g., energy, product design and restricted substances) in different countries and their company’s compliance strategy.
Click here to access the Summit on Global Product Design Initiatives Materials and Presentations
 

On March 1, 2006, China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) promulgated the long-awaited “Management Methods for Controlling Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products Regulation” (“China RoHS”).

The text of China RoHS was finalized on February 28, 2006, after a long wait. MII released the document to the MII Standards Working Group on March 1 and the official Chinese News Agency (Xinhua) announced the promulgation of China RoHS on March 3. Click here to access the AeA "unofficial" translation.

AeA has been actively working on the “China RoHS” with our member companies, Chinese government officials and other stakeholders for three years. With expertise gained from leading the U.S. tech industry’s RoHS efforts in Europe for over 10 years, AeA has communicated a message of harmonization, ease of product introduction and technically and economically realistic compliance requirements.

“China RoHS” provides a broad regulatory framework for substance restrictions, pre-market certifications, labeling and information disclosure requirements affecting a broad range of products, parts and components defined as "electronic information products" ("EIP"). The extremely broad scope of products captured under the “EIP” definition underscores the potential that the entire IT industry will be directly and immediately affected by “China RoHS” compliance obligations on the date of initial implementation which will fall March 1, 2007, one year after the officially recognized promulgation date.  A full list of Electronic Information Products is available, click here.

Visit the AeA "China RoHS" page to learn the latest information and view additional resources.

The focus of the AeA International Environment Committee is to educate and keep members current on international environmental regulations and issues, as well as to work with the United States and foreign governments as necessary to advocate voluntary approaches are adopted in place of mandatory standards relating to eco-design, energy use and certification. 
The committee is made up of dozens of global environment professionals from U.S. high technology companies. 

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