To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assistance is being given to the IT industry in its search for credible, cost effective alternatives the materials banned under the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Regulations; and if he will make a statement. (100579)

The DTI has made considerable efforts to assist both the IT industry and other sectors to comply with the requirements of these regulations both during the negotiations, prior to the adoption of an agreed text in January 2003, and in the subsequent period up to 1 July this year when the requirements came into force. These efforts have included three full rounds of public consultation, the organisation of UK-wide seminars to inform key stakeholders and the provision of the latest information on the Department's website.

In particular reference to the search for credible and cost effective alternatives to the substances restricted by these regulations, officials have signposted industry stakeholders to independent sources of technical assistance. Where such alternatives are not available, the Department has supported industry in the requests it has made to the European Commission for the provision of specific exemptions that are permitted under Article 5 of the Directive, (subject to the approval of a majority of member states).

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures are being taken to speed up the decision-making process on the exemption requests under the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Regulations; and if he will make a statement. (100580)

I share concerns expressed by industry at the length of time that has been taken up by the consideration of requests from industry for exemptions for specific applications from the requirements of the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive, but also fully understand the procedural constraints that the European Commission has faced.

I wrote to the European Commissioner who has responsibility for this area about this issue in July and was assured, in reply, that the Commission fully understood the concerns of industry and was doing all that was possible to bring all outstanding requests to a conclusion as soon as was reasonably possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the policy of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory will be on the interpretation of the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Regulations in respect of (a) existing but unsold electronic equipment held by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and (b) production by the SMEs of new equipment where for health, safety or robustness of construction reasons the equipment demands the use of lead-based solders, or no proven alternative is widely available. (101716)

[holding answer 21 November 2006]: The information requested is as follows.

(a) NWML’s policy in enforcement of regulations implementing Directive 2002/95/EC on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS), which applies at the point of putting products onto the market, complies with the EU Commission guidance in the ‘Guide to the implementation of directives based on the New Approach and the Global Approach’. Any existing but unsold equipment that had been put on the market before 1 July this year can be sold regardless of whether it complies with the requirements of the directive or not. Only compliant equipment can be sold if it was put on the market after 1 July.

(b) All exemptions to the RoHS directive must be approved by member states under the procedures laid down in article 5 of the directive. Applications for exemptions must be made directly to the European Commission. NWML has no authority to make local policy judgements on such matters.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the meeting of 27 June 2006 between the Minister for Energy, the hon. Members for Mole Valley and for Walthamstow Mr. Gerrard (and representatives of the Professional Lighting and Sound Association, if he will list the research that contradicts the evidence adduced in the Christopher Booker article in the Sunday Telegraph of 4 June 2006; and if he will make a statement. (100578)

In the article that Mr. Booker wrote in June, he suggested that the report published by the US Environment Protection Agency in 2005 demonstrated that the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive was an unnecessary piece of legislation. I do not share this view.

The Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive aims to minimise the amount of hazardous substances in waste electrical and electrical equipment that could enter landfill sites at end of life by restricting the levels of such substances that are used in the manufacture of such equipment.

It is well known and widely recognised that the four heavy metals restricted by the RoHS Directive (and, as a consequence, the UK RoHS Regulations 2006) are toxic materials that could cause death, illness and other medium to long-term health impacts. This is also the case in regard to the polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) restricted by the Directive. The situation in respect of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) is less conclusive, so the most commonly used—DecaBDE—has been exempted from the restrictions in the light of extensive research undertaken for the European Commission by the Environment Agency for England and Wales.