Press Releases

"FEDERAL ROHS LEGISLATION IS IMPERATIVE", WARNS NEWARK INONE, AS EU LAW TAKES HOLD

CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 19, 2006 — On the heels of the European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive which took effect July 1, Newark, a subsidiary of global distributor Premier Farnell plc and the leading small-quantity distributor of RoHS compliant electronic components, information and services in the Americas, has issued a warning about the need for a comparable US law. The complete text can be viewed at www.newarkinone.com/fedlaw/

With no national RoHS-style legislation yet proposed, California has enacted its own RoHS rule, SB20/SB50, which takes effect January 1. While not as comprehensive as the EU's RoHS, its scope is expected to expand. State rules aimed at restricting mercury have been enacted in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

Paul Tallentire, president, Newark warns that this sets a dangerous precedent.
"Increasing and varying state-by-state rules are already causing unnecessary complexity for electronic manufacturers and distributors who must try to track and meet them all. Are we going to wait until we have 50 state laws with 50 flavors, before we enact a uniform national standard for our industry?"

Tallentire cites global competition as another imperative. "Both China and South Korea have already proposed RoHS-style regulations to ensure that their own manufacturers can continue to export electronic goods to the EU and the rest of the world. Are the stakes any less for US manufacturers?"

Newark is conducting a poll on this issue at www.newark.com/rohs, and will make the results available in November. This site also provides critical information to help companies transition to RoHS compliance, including: the latest news, on-demand lead-free soldering webinars, downloadable step-by-step guides to compliance and updates on US and Canadian green laws.

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