Electronic Equipment (Amendment) Regulations, 2007

Suppliment tal-Gazzetta tal-Gvern ta’ Malta, Nru. 18,050, 13 ta’ Marzu, 2007

L.N. 50 of 2007

PRODUCT SAFETY ACT

(CAP. 427)

Restriction of Use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and

Electronic Equipment (Amendment) Regulations, 2007

IN exercise of the powers conferred by articles 38 to 40 of the

Product Safety Act, the Minister for Competitiveness and

Communications, on the advice of the Malta Standards Authority, has

made the following regulations>-

(1) The title of these regulations is the Restriction of Use of Citation,

Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment commencement

scope.

(Amendment) Regulations, 2007 and they shall be read and construed

as one with the Restriction of Use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical

and Electronic Equipment Regulations, 2004, hereinafter referred to as L.N. 396 of 2004.

“the principal regulations”.

(2) These regulations shall be deemed to have come into

force on the 1 st July 2006.

(3) These regulations implement the requirements of

Commission Decisions>

Commission Decision 2006#690#EC of 12 October 2006

amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the

Annex to Directive 2002#95#EC of the European Parliament and

of the Council as regards exemptions for applications of lead in

crystal glass.

Commission Decision 2006#691#EC of 12 October 2006

amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the

Annex to Directive 2002#95#EC of the European Parliament and

of the Council as regards exemptions for applications of lead and

cadmium.

Commission Decision 2006#692#EC of 12 October 2006

amending, for the purposes of adapting to technical progress, the

Annex to Directive 2002#95#EC of the European Parliament and

of the Council as regards exemptions for applications of hexavalent

chromium.

For Schedule I of the principal regulations there shall be

substituted the following>

“Schedule I

(Regulation 4(2))

Applications of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium,

polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE)

which are exempt from the requirements of regulation 4(2)

Item No.

Application

Mercury in compact fluorescent lamps not exceeding 5 mg per lamp.

1. Mercury in straight fluorescent lamps for general purposes not exceeding>

2. — halophosphate

10 mg

— triphosphate with normal lifetime

5 mg

— triphosphate with long lifetime

8 mg.

Mercury in straight fluorescent lamps for special purposes.

Mercury in other lamps not specifically mentioned in this Schedule.

4.

Lead in glass of cathode ray tubes, electronic components and fluorescent

Lead as an alloying element in steel containing up to 0,35 % lead by weight,

aluminium containing up to 0,4 % lead by weight and as a copper alloy containing up

to 4 % lead by weight.

(a) Lead in high melting temperature type solders (i.e. tin-lead solder alloys

containing more than 85 % lead),

(b) Lead in solders for servers, storage and storage array systems, network

infrastructure equipment for switching, signaling, transmission as well as network

management for telecommunications,

(c)

Lead in electronic ceramic parts (e.g. piezoelectronic devices).

Cadmium and its compounds in electrical contacts and cadmium plating except

for applications banned under Directive 91#338#EEC 3 amending Directive 76#769#EEC2 4

relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and

preparations.

OJ L 186, 12.7.1991, p. 59.

OJ L 262, 27.9.1976, p. 201.

Hexavalent chromium as an anti-corrosion of the carbon steel cooling system

in absorption refrigerators.

Deca BDE for polymeric applications.

9a.

9b. Lead in lead-bronze bearing shells and bushes.

–

Lead used in compliant pin connector systems.

Lead as a coating material for the thermal conduction module c-ring.

Lead and cadmium in optical and filter glass.

13.

Lead in solders consisting of more than two elements for the connection

between the pins and the package of microprocessors with a lead content of more than

80 % and less than 85 % by weight.

Lead in solders to complete a viable electrical connection between

semiconductor die and carrier within integrated circuit Flip Chip packages.

Lead in linear incandescent lamps with silicate coated tubes.

16.

Lead halide as radiant agent in High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps used

for professional reprography applications.

Lead as activator in the fluorescent powder (1 % lead by weight or less) of

discharge lamps when used as sun tanning lamps containing phosphors such as BSP

(BaSi2O5>Pb) as well as when used as speciality lamps for diazo-printing reprography,

lithography, insect traps, photochemical and curing processes containing phosphorssuch

as SMS ((Sr,Ba)2MgSi2O7>Pb).

Lead with PbBiSn-Hg and PbInSn-Hg in specific compositions as main

amalgam and with PbSn-Hg as auxiliary amalgam in very compact Energy Saving

Lamps (ESL).

Lead oxide in glass used for bonding front and rear substrates of flat

fluorescent lamps used for Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD).

Lead and cadmium in printing inks for the application of enamels on

borosilicate glass.

Lead as impurity in RIG (rare earth iron garnet) Faraday rotators used for

fibre optic communications systems.

Lead in finishes of fine pitch components other than connectors with a pitch

of 0.65 mm or less with NiFe lead frames and lead in finishes of fine pitch components

other than connectors with a pitch of 0.65 mm or less with copper lead frames.

Lead in solders for the soldering to machined through hole discoidal and

planar array ceramic multilayer capacitors.

Lead oxide in plasma display panels (PDP) and surface conduction electron

emitter displays (SED) used in structural elements< notably in the front and rear glass

dielectric layer, the bus electrode, the black stripe, the address electrode, the barrier

ribs, the seal frit and frit ring as well as in print pastes.

Lead oxide in the glass envelope of Black Light Blue (BLB) lamps.

26.

Lead alloys as solder for transducers used in high-powered (designated to

operate for several hours at acoustic power levels of 125 dB SPL and above)

loudspeakers.’

Hexavalent chromium in corrosion preventive coatings of unpainted metal

sheetings and fasteners used for corrosion protection and Electromagnetic Interference

Shielding in equipment falling under category three of Directive 2002#96#EC (IT and

telecommunications equipment). Exemption granted until 1 July 2007.’

Lead bound in crystal glass as defined in Annex I (Categories 1, 2, 3 and 4)

of Council Directive 69#493#EEC. 5 ”

OJ L 326, 29.12.1969, p. 36. Directive as last amended by 2003 Act of Accession.

Mitbug[ fl-Istamperija tal-Gvern — Printed at the Government Printing Press

Lm0.08 (€0.19)