EU - Study to Assess Requests for a Renewal of Nine Exemptions of Annex III of RoHS Directive

​The European Commission is launching this contract for evaluation of sixteen requests for renewal of the following nine exemptions in Annex III of the RoHS Directive which are all about lead:

- Exemption 6(a)/6(a)-I for lead as an alloying element in steel for machining purposes and in galvanized steel containing up to 0.35% lead by weight

- Exemption 6(b)/6(b)-I for lead as an alloying element in aluminium containing up to 0.4% lead by weight, provided it stems from lead-bearing aluminium scrap recycling

- Exemption 6(b)-II for lead as an alloying element in aluminium for machining purposes with a lead content up to 0.4% by weight

- Exemption 6(c) for copper alloy containing up to 4% lead by weight

- Exemption 7(a) for lead in high melting temperature type solders (i.e. lead-based alloys containing 85% by weight or more lead)

- Exemption 7(c)-I for electrical and electronic components containing lead in a glass or ceramic other than dielectric ceramic in capacitors, e.g. piezoelectric devices, or in a glass or ceramic matrix compound

- Exemption 7(c)-II for lead in dielectric ceramic in capacitors for a rated voltage of 125V AC or 250 V DC or highter​

The Commission needs clear technical and scientific evidence and an assessment of requests for granting, renewing or revoking an exemption in light of the criteria listed in RoHS, notably the provisions cited above, taking into consideration the differing validity periods and expiry dates for the various product categories. The number of exemptions to be reviewed under this study is nine in total.

Assignment of project tasks to Oeko-institut started on October 28, 2020, and will run over a period of 10 months, thus ending on July 27, 2021. An interim report shall be delivered to the Commission before the end of April. The final report is due at the end of the project. Stakeholders / public consultation are planned and are expected to be launched before the end of the year.