FOREWORD

The APO has been striving to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in the business and manufacturing sectors, as the industrial scenario in the Asia-Pacific region is dominated by SMEs. To assist SMEs in the electrical and electronic sector, the APO organized a workshop on The Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) in association with SPRING, Singapore, in 2007. The RoHS Directive of the European Union came into effect in July 2006, significantly affecting the business of SMEs in this sector.

The RoHS Directive restricts the use of six hazardous materials in the production of various electrical and electronic equipment. They are lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls, and polybrominated diphenyl ether. This means that any equipment containing more than the designated levels of these six materials is not accepted in the European Union market. Products under the purview of RoHS include batteries, color TVs, automotive electronics, computer systems and components, peripherals, electronic security, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and LED displays, media players and recorders, networking products, personal electronic devices, printed circuit boards, passive components, etc. Given the broad coverage, this directive has directly and indirectly affected a huge number of enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region.

Based on the workshop deliberations, compliance with the RoHS Directive in the Asia- Pacific region is still not complete. The degree of compliance varies among industries and SMEs in the manufacturing supply chain are finding it particularly difficult to comply. This has affected international exports significantly. The most important requirement is evolving country-specific regulations in line with RoHS. Sustaining and increasing business in the European market makes compliance with the RoHS Directive essential. Companies in the Asia-Pacific need to make the necessary changes in manufacturing processes and replace hazardous materials with safe ones.

Recognizing the economic significance of RoHS for its member countries and in line with its objective of assisting industries to be more competitive, the APO decided to develop a manual on RoHS as a guide for SME compliance. The manual will be disseminated as widely as possible among industries operating in the electrical and electronic sector. Major RoHS requirements and control processes to meet them are covered, illustrated by case studies. It is hoped that this RoHS manual for SMEs will help clarify perceptions of the requirements involved, thereby allowing more SMEs in member countries to become compliant and expand their market access.

Shigeo Takenaka
Secretary-General
Tokyo, November 2008