Businesses affected by the RoHS Regulations
The Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) Regulations 2012 could affect your business if you:
- manufacture electrical and electronic equipment (EEE)
- import new EEE into the European Union (EU)
- distribute new EEE in the EU
From 1 January 2021 there are differences in the rules for placing electrical and electronic equipment on the market in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and placing Electrical and Electronic Equipment on the market in Northern Ireland. Those differences are explained on this page. You can also:
- Find out about placing manufactured goods on the market in Great Britain
- Find out about placing manufactured goods on the market in Northern Ireland
- Find out about placing manufactured goods on the market in the EU
Equipment covered by RoHS
The RoHS regulations apply to EEE equipment for use with a voltage of up to 1,000 volts AC or 1,500 volts DC, placed on the market on or after 2 January 2013, in the following groups:
- large household appliances, eg fridges, radiators and air conditioning appliances
- small household appliances, eg sewing machines, toasters and clocks
- IT and telecommunications equipment, eg computers and their accessories, calculators and phones
- consumer equipment, eg TVs, radios and musical instruments
- lighting equipment, eg lamps, electric light bulbs and luminaires
- electrical and electronic tools, eg drills, welding equipment and lawnmowers (except large-scale stationary industrial tools)
- toys, leisure and sports equipment, eg electric train sets, video games and slot machines
- automatic dispensers, eg drinks, food and money dispensers
- from 23 July 2019 any products in the categories above that were not covered by the RoHS Regulations 2008
- from 22 July 2016, in vitro diagnostic medical devices
- from 22 July 2014, other medical devices, eg radiotherapy equipment, dialysis equipment and specialist medical freezers and refrigerators
- from 22 July 2017, industrial monitoring and control instruments,
- from 22 July 2014: other monitoring and control instruments, eg smoke detectors, heating regulators and other domestic and laboratory measuring devices.
- from 23 July 2019, two wheeled electric vehicles which are not type approved
- from 23 July 2019, all other EEE products not covered by any of the categories above, except those that are specifically exempted
For EEE first placed on the market between 1 July 2006 and 2 January 2013, the requirements from RoHS Regulations 2008, as amended. For guidance about those see RoHS Regulations Government Guidance Notes URN 11/526
RoHS Regulations Government Guidance Notes
If you put goods covered by RoHS onto the EU market, they must not contain more than the allowed levels of certain hazardous substances.
Equipment not covered by RoHS
The RoHS Regulations do not apply to some EEE equipment, including:
- arms, munitions and war material intended for military purposes;
- equipment designed to be sent into space;
- equipment to be installed as part of another type of equipment to which the RoHS Regulations do not apply, and which can be replaced only by the same specifically designed equipment;
- large-scale stationary industrial tools;
- large-scale fixed installations;
- means of transport for persons or goods (excluding electric two-wheeled vehicles which are not type-approved);
- non-road mobile machinery made available exclusively for professional use;
- active implantable medical devices;
- some photovoltaic panels for permanent use at a defined location ;
- equipment for research and development only made available on a business-to-business basis.