✔ RoHS Guide

RoHS Regulatory Updates

RoHS changes mostly through exemption decisions - Commission delegated directives that renew, narrow or end the exemptions in Annexes III and IV of Directive 2011/65/EU - and through national RoHS laws outside the EU. This log lists the changes that matter for electronics makers, newest first.

Recent changes

• July 8, 2026 - The European Commission published a draft delegated directive renewing or revising more than 20 Annex III and Annex IV entries, including lead in optical and filter glass (13(a), 13(b)), lead in ceramic multilayer capacitor solder (24(a)), crystal glass (29), cermet trimmer potentiometers (34) and Category 8 and 9 entries for oxygen sensors, lasers and MRI and SQUID superconductors. Proposed validity runs 30 to 78 months from entry into force. Not yet adopted.
• July 1, 2026 - Three delegated directives on lead exemptions began to apply: (EU) 2025/2364 for lead in steel, aluminum and copper alloys; (EU) 2025/1802 for high-melting-temperature solders; and (EU) 2025/2363 for lead in glass and ceramics. Expiry dates now run from December 11, 2026 to December 31, 2027. See RoHS Annex III Lead Exemptions.
• May 28, 2026 - Recovered PVC from electrical and electronic windows and doors (Annex III entry 46) became limited to specified applications, and articles with 0.1% or more lead must be marked. The exemption itself runs to May 28, 2028.
• November 21, 2025 - The three lead-exemption delegated directives were published in the Official Journal. The cadmium quantum dot exemption 39(a) expired the same day; 39(b), for quantum dots deposited directly on LED chips for display and projection, runs to December 31, 2027.
• August 1, 2025 - China issued its first mandatory RoHS standard, GB 26572-2025, which takes effect August 1, 2027 and adds four phthalates. See China RoHS vs EU RoHS.
• January 2025 - Great Britain extended recognition of CE marking indefinitely for RoHS and most electrical product rules, making UKCA marking optional for those products. Northern Ireland applies EU RoHS directly.
• December 2024 - The 2023 proposal to add TBBPA (a flame retardant) and MCCPs to the RoHS restricted list, raising it from 10 to 12 substances, was abandoned.
• 2023 - Most mercury-in-lamp exemptions ended under the lamp delegated directives adopted in 2021-2022, ahead of the Minamata Convention's fluorescent lamp phase-outs.
• December 7, 2023 - The Commission's RoHS review report proposed moving scientific and technical work on exemptions and substances to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) under the "one substance, one assessment" approach.

What to watch

• Adoption of the July 2026 exemption package - expiry dates will be set once it enters into force.
• Pending renewal decisions - several lead entries stay valid past their listed dates while renewal applications filed in December 2025 are decided.
• China RoHS on August 1, 2027 - GB 26572-2025 applies, with 12 more months for products made or imported before that date.
• ECHA's role - new RoHS substance restrictions and exemption assessments increasingly run through ECHA's committees.
• UK divergence - Great Britain mirrors EU RoHS today but adopts EU exemption changes separately, so check UK dates when they matter.

Compliance actions

• Track exemption expiries - map which parts rely on each Annex III or IV entry and test alternatives before the expiry date, since redesign lead times are long.
• Watch supply chain impact - expiring exemptions can disrupt component availability, especially for industrial and medical equipment.
• Monitor official sources - EUR-Lex for delegated directives, the Commission's "Have your say" portal for drafts, and UK OPSS for Great Britain.