EU & China RoHS loom large at Newark InOne's Supplier Summit

Newark InOne, a subsidiary of global distributor Premier Farnell plc and a leading small-quantity distributor of electronic components, test equipment and RoHS solutions, hosted its first RoHS Supplier Summit November 7-8 with leading component manufacturers, to confront the continuing impact of the EU regulation and to prepare for new legislation in China.

The EU's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive became law July 1, 2006, but its effects on the US marketplace may go on for years according to Paul Tallentire, president, Newark InOne. He remarked, "To be cost-effective, manufacturers and distributors need to be able to consolidate their product lines. But in the absence of federal regulation, we face running dual production lines and overstocking to satisfy both compliant and non-compliant needs in this country."

Harriet Green, chief executive, Premier Farnell, discussed the company's intention to launch a Mandarin language catalog in China concurrent with the March 2007 effective date of the law, with product that's compliant with the first wave of legislative requirements.  She commented, "20,000 of the products in this catalog will be locally stocked, with the rest available on short lead times." A fully transactional website with Mandarin content is also expected to go live in 2007.

Newark InOne's website at www.newarkinone.com/rohs provides critical information and solutions to help companies transition to RoHS compliance, including: a free service to convert bills of material, on-demand lead-free soldering webinars, downloadable step-by-step guides to compliance and updates on US and Canadian green laws.