High-level China officials discuss
new Chinese environmental rules
Washington— Eleven senior officials from
the Chinese Ministry of Information Industries (MII) addressed over
250 high-tech attendees in Silicon Valley on the new China Restrictions
on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) regulations, which go into effect
March 1, 2007.
The Silicon Valley program was the culmination
of a 10-day visit by these senior officials under the sponsorship
of AeA, Agilent Technologies, AMD, Apple, Cisco Systems, Dell, GE,
HP, Honeywell, Intel, Motorola, Sun, and Teradyne.
For over two years, the AeA China RoHS Steering
Committee, led by Liz Moyer of Texas Instruments and David Towne
of Sun Microsystems, has been working with MII to provide technical
expertise and advice on the concerns United States companies had
as the regulations were developed. The new regulations will restrict
the use of certain hazardous substances, such as lead, in the production
of products manufactured and sold in or imported into China.
"The China RoHS will have a major impact
on our industry," noted Liz Moyer, Environmental, Safety and
Health Public Affairs Manager, Texas Instruments. "While our
products are a very small percentage of the overall waste stream,
we in the electronics industry work hard to assure our environmental
impact is as small as possible. Because the China RoHS is different
in some ways from the EU version, it is important for everyone in
industry to understand their responsibilities under this regulation.
The MII officials speaking at the AeA conference were the best source
for understanding these requirements."
Additional information about the China RoHS program
can be found by visiting www.aeanet.org. |
