Saudi Arabia Implements New Technical Regulations on RoHS

In September, the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) published a new Technical Regulation on Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS). The Regulation applies to electrical and electronic equipment, such as:

• home appliances
• information and communication technology equipment
• lighting equipment
• electrical and electronic tools
• entertainment devices including sports equipment
• monitoring and control devices

The document sets out liabilities of suppliers, regulatory and market surveillance authorities, and conformity assessment procedures. Moreover, the SASO prescribed penalties depending on the type of violation. Now the supplier bears full legal responsibility for the implementation of this Technical Regulation requirements and becomes subject to the penalties in case of violations.
The regulation contains a list of 28 substances excluded from the application of hazardous materials limits. According to the Regulation, the equipment can also contain the following hazardous substances, if the upper limit does not exceed 0.1%:

• lead
• mercury
• cadmium 
• hexavalent chromium
• polybrominated biphenyls
• polybrominated biphenyls ethers.

To apply for the type approval procedure, the applicant must provide:

• information on name and address of the manufacturer 
• written declaration (the example can be found in the Regulation) 
• technical file, including analysis and evaluation of risks, design of the product, manufacturing, and operation of the product, general description, drawings, test reports, and sometimes representative samples of the planned production.

Additionally, the manufacturer should provide a technical file for the device as well as evidence that his company has an effective quality management system. 
The SASO gave the transitional period for manufacturers to prepare for the new RoHS requirements. Thus, the new requirements come into force early in January 2022.