New and existing regulations are placing increasing pressure on manufacturers of electronics to gather information from suppliers on the substances used in their products.  In addition to the Restriction of Hazardous Substances or RoHS Directive, Article 33 of the EU’s incoming chemicals legislation REACH will require all manufacturers to provide customers with information on whether their products contain >0.1% of any ‘substances of very high concern’ on the REACH ‘Candidate List’ of substances.    

 COCIR is therefore launching a new open initiative which will benefit not just the medical device industry but the whole electronics industry.  Developed by ENVIRON, the www.BOMcheck.net web database system will reduce business costs by enabling suppliers to upload their substances declarations to one location for access by all participating manufacturers.  Initially focused on RoHS and other restricted substances (e.g. under the Marketing and Use Directive ref…), the system will be extended this autumn after the REACH Candidate List is published.  A further expansion of the database tool will include the draft IEC 62474 standard for full materials declaration later this year.

“BOMcheck is the first system that allows electronics producers to reduce the industry burden of ensuring REACH and RoHS compliance by compiling a centralised master database of substance data from suppliers” said Freimut Schröder, of Siemens Healthcare and COCIR Environmental Policy Focus Group chair. 

COCIR Secretary General Nicole Denjoy added “This groundbreaking efficient BOMcheck system will reduce costs for our members and other industries as instead of each supplier having to deal individually with each manufacturer, it will provide one central location where the supplier can share its data with multiple manufacturers.” 

The European Commission, National Member States representatives and several other trade associations will attend the launch at COCIR on 4 June in Brussels.  The European Commission congratulated COCIR for leading this initiative. BOMcheck is one of several elements in COCIR’s proactive strategy to reduce environmental impacts.

Media Contacts:

Nicole Denjoy                     Kathryn Sheridan                Aidan Turnbull

COCIR                              COCIR                              ENVIRON

Secretary General               Communications Advisor       Head of EcoDesign

Tel: +32 (0)2 706 8961       Tel: +32 (0)496 116198       Tel: +44 (0)1225 748420
denjoy@cocir.org               press@cocir.org                 aturnbull@uk.environcorp.com

NOTE FOR EDITORS

About COCIR

Founded as a non-profit trade association in 1959, COCIR represents the radiological, electromedical and healthcare IT industry in Europe.  As such, our members, leading European healthcare and IT industries and national trade associations play a driving role in developing the future of healthcare both in Europe and worldwide. COCIR encourages the use of advanced technology to support healthcare delivery worldwide. COCIR’s key objectives include promoting free worldwide trade of medical devices and maintaining the competitiveness of the European health sector.

About ENVIRON

A leading international consultancy, ENVIRON partners with clients to assess and manage the potential environmental, energy, and health issues associated with their activities and products. Decision makers rely on us as they strive to reduce or eliminate health and environmental impacts throughout their business life cycles - from acquisition to ongoing operations to restructuring or divestiture. Whether responding to existing challenges or seeking strategies to prevent future liabilities, clients around the world benefit from our blend of universally high technical skills and knowledge of local requirements and practices.
 

Sign up feature for press releases

For press questions please contact:

Kathryn Sheridan
COCIR Communications Advisor
00 32 (0) 496 116198
press@cocir.org