29. August 2005

New Compliance Standards for Signet Products

RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC

The European Union (EU) has issued the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive that will restrict the use of hazardous substances such as lead, cadmium and PBB in electrical and electronic equipment, thereby contributing to the protection of the general public and the environment. The EU has set a deadline of July 1, 2006 for compliance and will strictly enforce this mandate. California, China and Japan are expected to follow soon after with similar legislation.

Signet products are exempt from compliance under the Product Category 9 entitled "Other monitoring and control instruments used in industrial installations." However, Georg Fischer Signet intends to become fully compliant to these established guidelines while minimizing supply chain issues.

WEEE Legislation 2002/96/EC

In line with the European WEEE (Waste of Electrical & Electronic Equipment) legislation, Georg Fischer Signet shall be adding a prescribed sticker to all relevant and newly manufactured products during the next several weeks. The sticker shows a crossed-out trash can symbol. All electrical and electronic products sold into the EU are affected by this legislation. The WEEE legislation identifies products and requirements for preventing waste, promoting recycling and reuse of electrical and electronic products. The responsible party for complying with the directive is the manufacturer (if located in the EU) or the importer (if the manufacturer is outside of the EU). Customers must be informed about the logistics of recycling and contracts must be made with recycling services. Export for recycling or disposal is typically not allowed. This responsible party will need to register all electronic products with part numbers at a national clearing house, and report annual sales and retrieved/recycled quantities. There is no exemption for small quantity sales. Georg Fischer Signet intends to focus on recycling methods and the disassembly possibilities in new designs to facilitate dismantling and recovery.

To find more information on-line regarding these regulations, please visit www.tuv.com
For all other questions, please contact Georg Fischer Signet Marketing at signet.marketing@georgfischer.com