Now that we're all ready for RoHS and WEEE, perhaps we can take a few deep breaths and start thinking about China's draft regulations. Often called China RoHS, the draft document from China's Ministry of Information Industry starts where the EU directive left off and expands the scope considerably. In addition, the National Development Reform Commission (NRDC) is drafting a recycling initiative dubbed China WEEE by outsiders

Reading the draft of China RoHS is actually quite easy. The unofficial English translation is clearly written and reasonably well translated. The 25 articles on 4 pages are much more understandable than the EU directive ever was. A number of points stand out.

• Prevention of pollution by eliminating pollutants and requiring recycling (chapter 2)
  Cradle-to-grave scope (articles 8-10)
• Packaging must be non-toxic, biodegradable and recyclable (article 10)
• Packaging must be marked with material content (article 10)
• The RoHS 6 (Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb, PBB, PBDE) are banned from 1 January, 2006 (article 11)
• Products must be labeled with:
  o Names, content levels, and recyclability of harmful materials (article 12)
  o Recyclability (fully, partially and non-recyclable, article 12)
  o Product safety periods (date range product is safe to use) (article 13)
  o Extraordinary exception permits labeling in product manuals or on packaging (article 12)
• Producers must provide indexes of product safety periods for publication (article 14)
• Producers must contract with local recyclers to recover products after safety period (article 15)
• Producers must finance recycling (article 16)
• Entities and individuals may complain about pollution caused by electronic products (article 19)
• Violators who fail to take corrective action as a result of complaints may have their permits revoked and their identities publicized (article 20)
• Products not properly marked will not be permitted past customs (article 21)

Click here to see China RoHS Directive