EU - The Renewal of RoHS Exemption for the Use of Mercury in CCFL and EEFL

By Decision 2010/571/EU, the European Commission granted an exemption for the use of mercury in cold cathode fluorescent lamps and external electrode fluorescent lamps (CCFL and EEFL) for special purposes, which is now listed as exemption 3(a), 3(b) and 3(c) in Annex III to Directive 2011/65/EU. The exemption was to expire on July 21, 2016.

On January 15, 2015, the Commission received an application for renewal of the exemption (‘the renewal application’), which was followed in January 2020 by an additional renewal application from the same applicants. In accordance with Article 5(5) of Directive 2011/65/EU, the exemption remains valid until a decision on the renewal request has been adopted.

After the evaluation, the Commission granted the renewal of the exemption for a period of three years only for those lamps used in the electrical and electronic equipment that was placed on the market before adoption of this Directive.​

​In Annex III to Directive 2011/65/EU (RoHS 2 Directive), entries 3, 3(a), 3(b) and 3(c) are replaced by the following:

3 Mercury in cold cathode fluorescent lamps and external electrode fluorescent lamps (CCFL and EEFL) for special purposes used in EEEplaced on the market before 24 February 2022 not exceeding (per lamp):

3(a) Short length (≤ 500 mm): 3,5 mg, expires on February 24, 2025

3(b) Medium length (> 500 mm and ≤ 1 500 mm): 5 mg, expires on February 24, 2025

3(c) Long length (> 1 500 mm): 13 mg​, expires on February 24, 2025