On June 29, 2024, the Standardization Administration of China (SAC) issued No. 14 National Standard Notice, and announced the approval and implementation of 109 national standards and 4 amendments of national standards. Although all announced standards seem voluntary, the No. 1 Amendment (hereinafter referred to as “the Amendment”) of China RoHS standard GB/T 26572-2011 Requirements of concentration limits for certain restricted substances in electrical and electronic products will pose quite significant impact for a large number of foreign and domestic stakeholders.   

The Amendment is a one-page document, but it has finally officialized China’s long-discussed intention on extending the restricted substances from 6 to 10 items. It added 4 substance, which are 4 phthalates bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) (0,1%), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) (0,1%), dibutyl phthalate (DBP) (0,1%) and diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP) (0,1%) to the list of restricted substances. On the other hand, those who has conformed with EU RoHS shall not be impacted by this change as EU RoHS has required the restriction of the same 10 substances since July of 2011. 

The official implementation date of this Amendment is January 1, 2026, meaning that all stakeholders are given 18 months of time as a transition period. Meanwhile, foreign stakeholders should be aware that, as explained in the previous updates, the development of a mandatory standard for China RoHS’s hazardous substances restriction and labeling is in progress. This mandatory standard will replace SJ/T 11364 and GB/T 26572 eventually once it’s approved. 

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