UPDATE as of June 1st, 2022
Saudi Arabia Announces Restriction of Certain Hazardous Substances Requirements in 2022
In December, the Saudi Standards and Metrology Organization (SASO) decided to postpone the implementation of the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) regulation for a period of six months.
Initially, all relevant Saudi manufacturers and importers of electric and electronic equipment (EEEs) should have complied with the new regulation from 5 January 2022, onward. The reason for the six months postponement is to allow time to complete the appropriate actions necessary to comply with the requirements of the new regulation.
As part of the postponement, SASO has also decided to implement the regulation in phases as specified below:
|
Product category |
Implementation date |
|
Household appliances:
|
4 July 2022 |
|
Telecom and IT appliances |
31 December 2022 |
|
Luminaires equipment |
31 March 2023 |
|
Electric and electronic tools and equipment |
29 June 2023 |
|
Toys, entertainment and sports equipment |
27 September 2023 |
|
Monitoring and control equipment |
26 December 2023 |
The decision of introducing the regulation came after several products on the market were discovered to contain dangerous substances that represent a serious danger to both the safety of the consumer and the environment.
The technical regulation was first published on 9 July 2021, by the Saudi Standards, Metrology, and Quality Organization (SASO), in an effort to bring the country closer alignment with the European Union’s Directive on restricted hazardous substances in EEEs. The restriction requires that all relevant products undergo testing to ensure it does not exceed the chemical restriction levels of six substances, namely lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs).
Read more: Saudi Arabia Announces Restriction of Certain Hazardous Substances Requirements in 2022