Eurasian Economic Council opened a public consultation on the draft amendments to EAEU Technical Regulation on the Restriction of the Use of Hazardous Substances in Electrotechnical and Radio-electronic Products (EAEU TR 037/2016) on October 25, 2021. Participation in the discussion is possible up to January 21, 2022. 

The purpose of the amendments is to clarify and specify certain provisions of the technical regulation. The new version of the EAEU TR 037/2016 will update the requirements for the controlled nomenclature of hazardous substances and the limitation of their content in electrical and radio electronics products. The regulation is going to be supplemented with 4 new standardized indicators of hazardous substances: Diethylhexyl phthalate, Butylbenzyl phthalate, Dibutyl phthalate, Diisobutyl phthalate.

The requirements for the disposal of products that have lost their consumer properties due to physical deterioration or obsolescence were also stated in the Regulation and are based on the European Directive 012/19 /EU (WEEE-2) requirements. 

The Council of the EEC breaks down the exceptions from the scope of EAEU TR 037/2016. They plan to add a statement for electrical and radio electronics products that are out of the scope of the Regulation, except for the requirements of its Appendices No. 2 (a list of hazardous substances, which concentration in electrical and radio electronics products exceeds the permissible concentration in homogeneous (homogeneous) materials) and No. 3 (special requirements for limiting the use of hazardous substances in electrical and radio electronics products).

There are also changes and additions to certain items of the list of special requirements for limiting the use of hazardous substances in electrical and radio electronics products (Appendix No. 3). 

A large number of new terms related specifically to the disposal of electrical and radio electronics products are included in the draft amendments to the EAEU TR 037/2016. Among them are the following:

• waste of electrical and radio-electronic products (IEEE)
• marking with the symbol of separate waste collection
• best available technologies (concerns the collection, storage, transportation, processing, disposal, neutralization, placement, disposal of IEEE)
• extended producer responsibility (EPR)
• ERP recycling
• ERP management
• separate waste collection symbol, etc.

Furthermore, a separate Appendix No. 4 will appear in the EAEU TR 037/2016 specifying the requirements for the recycling of electrical and radio-electronic products.

Additionally, the following symbol of separate waste collection introduced by the revision project will have to be applied to the product or packaging and indicated in the operating documents attached to it:

The sign must have a minimum height of 7 mm (a = 3.33 mm). 

Operational documents for the electrical and radio electronics product should also be supplemented with mandatory instructions, such as: 

• Do not throw away the product that has lost its consumer properties together with unsorted solid household waste, but collect it separately from other waste 
• The possible harmful effects on human health and the state of the environment of hazardous substances contained in electrical and radio electronics products 
• Recycle it when not in use to prevent damage to the environment

It is planned that the compliance with the established requirements for the recycling of products will be checked during state supervision. 

Please, note that Amendments to the EAEU TR 037/2016 will enter into force upon the expiration of 180 days from the date of the official publication of the EEC Council Decision.

The draft amendments to EAEU TR 037/2016 you can find here.
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The information has been prepared by the GMA Consult Group team.‍

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