* See updated scheduling here *
Since the introduction of RoHS by the European Union in 2003, countries around the world began to restrict hazardous substances in electronic products. Many countries, such as China, the United States, Japan, South Korea, etc., have adopted EU RoHS as their blueprint for modification and introduced "RoHS-like" regulations for their local market.
On 20 November 2020, the Saudi Arabian Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) of a Draft Technical Regulation for Saudi Arabia RoHS, which aims to restrict the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment, and to define conformity assessment procedures to which suppliers must adhere.
On 9 July 2021, SASO officially published this technical regulation to align closer with the EU’s Directive on the restriction of hazardous substances (RoHS) in EEEs. This Technical Regulation would apply to electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) in the following categories with the exception of medical devices, military equipment, large-scale stationary industrial tools, large scale fixed installations and aerospace equipment:
- Household appliances
- Lighting Equipment
- Leisure, recreation and sports equipment
- Information & Communication technology equipment
- Electrical and electronic tools
- Monitoring and control tools
It requires that all applicable products undergo a conformity assessment to ensure they do not exceed the chemical restriction levels for the six substances:
| RESTRICTED SUBSTANCE | LIMIT |
|---|---|
| Lead (Pb) | 0.1% |
| Mercury (Hg) | |
| Hexavalent Chromium (Cr VI) | |
| Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) | |
| Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) | |
| Cadmium (Cd) | 0.01% |
The regulation sets a deadline of 5 January 2022 for new EEEs to comply, but manufacturers can sell products already on the market until 9 July 2022.
Suppliers or manufacturers must obtain the certificate of conformity (Type 1a per IEC / ISO 17067) and the related test report issued by an SASO-approved authority The product must also be accompanied by a technical file that includes supplier declaration of conformity according to the form attached in Appendix (4), risk assessment, warnings and manuals for the safe and proper use of the product.
Please contact our Customer Service Team for more information!
Units 303 & 305, 3/F, Building 22E,
Phase 3, Hong Kong Science Park,
Pak Shek Kok, New Territories,
Hong Kong, China