EU - EN IEC 63000:2018 New Harmonized Standard to Demonstrate RoHS Compliance

​On 15 May 2020, the European Commission published the Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/6591 to adopt EN IEC 63000:2018 as the new harmonized standard for assessing the technical documentation to support the compliance assessment of RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU. The previous standard EN 50581:2012 will be withdrawn by 18 November 2021. 

According to Directive 2011/65/EU (RoHS Directive), materials, components and electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) which have been assessed in accordance with harmonized standards, the references of which have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union, are presumed to comply with the requirements of the RoHS Directive.  The previous harmonized standard EN 50581:2012 was made available on 2012 and revised to standard EN IEC 63000:2018 by the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC). 

EN IEC 63000:2018 - Technical documentation for the assessment of electrical and electronic products with respect to the restriction of hazardous substances, provides detailed specifications on the technical documentation the manufacturer will have to collect for declaring the compliance with applicable hazardous substances restrictions.  The implementation of the standard ensures the assessment of EEE, with respect to the restriction of hazardous substances, and therefore increases the trust in EEE manufacturers.

As clarified by CENELEC, EN IEC 63000:2018 is extensively based on EN 50581:2012, except the removal of the wordings specific to the EU RoHS Directive.  This aims to address various applicable restricted substances regulation worldwide while ensuring the same approach from manufacturers everywhere. The new standard also updates the normative reference in EN 50581:2012.

In order to give manufacturers sufficient time to adapt their products to the new harmonized standard, the Commission has set the effective withdrawal for EN 50581:2012 from the Official Journal at 18 November 2021.  During the transitional period, both standards can be used to prove RoHS compliance, but only EN IEC 63000:2018 will be accepted thereafter.