China Expects to Add Four Phthalates to RoHS Controlled Substances 
On March 14, 2022, the RoHS Administrative Measure on the Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products Operating Group of the Ministry of Industry and Information of China held the “First Meeting on Restriction Management of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment,” at which the Standard Operating Group commented on the planned revision of the Chinese version of RoHS-related standards. At the meeting, the Standard Operating Group submitted a revision to the “Requirements on concentration limits for certain restricted substances in electrical and electronic products” (GB/T 26572-2011). The revision adds four phthalate ester limit requirements in addition to the existing six hazardous substances. Currently, it is expected that the above standard revision work will be completed by the end of September 2022. In addition, the “Requirements on concentration limits for certain restricted substances in electrical and electronic products”, which is a mandatory national standard (GB), is also planned to be enacted in the future.
Trends regarding the addition of four phthalates
According to the Standard Operating Group, the four phthalates currently scheduled to be added to controlled substances are as follows:
- DEHP: diethylhexyl phthalate
- BBP: benzylbutyl phthalate
- DBP: dibutyl phthalate
- DIBP: diisobutyl phthalate
As mentioned above, in terms of the addition of the above four types of phthalates, it is expected that specific regulatory requirements will be presented in the form of the revised standard of “Requirements on concentration limits for certain restricted substances in electrical and electronic products” (GB/T 26572-2011). According to the Standard Operating Group, a questionnaire survey is currently being conducted for companies regarding the above revision. The current plan is to complete the revision work by the end of September 2022. In addition, the mandatory national standard (GB) “Requirements on concentration limits for certain restricted substances in electrical and electronic products” is expected to be completed by 2022 and officially promulgated three to five years later.
