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Consultation on charging fees for 
applications for exemptions to 
restrictions in the Restriction of Certain 
Hazardous Substances in Electrical 
and Electronic Equipment Regime  
June 2022  
  
 
   
 
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 We are the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. We’re responsible for 
improving and protecting the environment, growing the green economy, sustaining thriving 
rural communities and supporting our world -class food, farming and fishing industr ies.  
We work closely with our 33 agencies and arm’s length bodies on our ambition to make 
our air purer, our water cleaner, our land greener and our food more sustainable. Our 
mission is to restore and enhance the environment for the next generation, and to leave 
the environment in a better state than we found it.  
 
 
© Crown copyright 2021  
This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. To view this 
licence, visit  www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open -government -licence/   
This publication is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications    
Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at  
rohs@defra.gov.uk   
www.gov.uk/defra   
  
 
   
 
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 Contents  
  
Introduction  4 
Purpose of this consultation  4 
Geographical extent  5 
Audience  5 
Responding to this consultation  5 
Duration  6 
After the consultation  6 
About you  7 
Background  9 
The proposal  11 
Table 1: breakdown of fee  13 
Questions  15 
 
 
 
 
 
  
   
 
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 Introduction  
The Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic 
Equipment Regulations 2012 (RoHS Regulations) restricts the use of 10 hazardous 
substances in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) with a view to contributing to t he 
protection of human health and the environment, including the sound recovery and 
disposal of waste.  
Industry can apply for exemptions to allow the supply of products using one or more of the 
restricted substances above the threshold limits set down in the RoHS Regulations where 
specified criteria are met. Applications for exemptions are made to the Secretary of State 
under regulation 6 of the Hazardous Substances and Packaging (Legislative Functions 
and Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020  (2020 Regula tions). Any exemption that is 
granted can be used across industry, not just the business that applied for the exemption. 
Exemptions are granted where it is determined that the necessary criteria have been met 
following a detailed evaluation conducted in ac cordance with regulation 5 of the 2020 
Regulations.  
The RoHS Regulations closely follow restrictions placed on the use of hazardous 
substances in EEE in the EU RoHS Directive(2011/65/EU)1. Applications for exemptions in 
the EU are determined by the European Commission. Decisions are published and 
adopted by means of a delegated act. Following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, the 
function of granting, renewing and revoking exemptions were, in relation to Great Britain, 
transferred to the Secretary of State by the 2020 Regulations using powers in section 8 of 
the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (the Withdrawal Act).  
This transferred function represents a new cost to the public purse whi ch the government 
is now seeking to recover from organisations that submit applications for exemptions 
under the 2020 Regulations on a cost recovery basis.  
 Purpose of this consultation   
The purpose of this consultation is to seek views on the proposal to introduce a fee for 
applications for exemptions to the substance restrictions in the RoHS Regulations.  
 
 
 
 
1 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudr/2011/65  
  
   
 
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 Geographical extent  
We are consulting on proposals applicable to England, Wales and Scotland only. The 
Secretary of State’s transferred function only  applies in relation to England, Scotland and 
Wales.  
Northern Ireland is out of scope of this consultation. This is because the EU RoHS 
Directive is listed in the Northern Ireland Protocol (part of the Trade and Cooperation 
Agreement with the EU). As such, the EU RoHS Directive continues to apply in Northern  
Ireland and Northern Ireland continues to be bound by exemption decisions made by the 
EU.  
The Government introduced legislation in June to remedy issues with operationalising 
parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol. This action is also taken with the ai m of restoring 
power sharing, ensuring the delicate balance of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement is 
protected. The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill will allow the Government to address the 
practical problems the Protocol has created in Northern Ireland in four key areas: 
burdensome customs processes, inflexible regulation, tax and spend discrepancies and 
democratic governance issues. Given that we are not seeking to change how the RoHS 
Directive is applied in Northern Ireland, and are only consulting on mat ters applicable to 
England, Scotland, and Wales, our proposals are unlikely to impact Northern Ireland 
industry at present.  
Audience  
This is a public consultation and we welcome all views, particularly views from the 
electrical and electronic equipment ma nufacturing and supply industry and relevant trade 
bodies.  
Responding to this consultation  
Please respond to this consultation in one of the following ways:  
Online using the Citizen Space consultation hub at Defra https://consult.defra.gov.uk/   
For ease of analysis, responses via the Citizen Space platform would be preferred, but 
alternative options are provi ded below if required: By email to: rohs@defra.gov.uk   
In writing to:  
Consultation Coordinator, Defra   
2nd Floor, Fos s House,  Kings Pool,     
   
 
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 1-2 Peasholme  Green, York, YO1 7PX   
Or email:  consultation.coordinator@defra.gov.uk   
Please note, any responses sent by post must arrive at the above address by the closing 
date of the consultation ( 23rd August 2022 ) to be counted. Unfortunately, any responses 
received after this date will not be analysed. To ensure your response is included in the 
analysis, please consider responding online via Citizen Space.  
Duration  
This consultation will be open for six weeks  from 12th July 2022  until  23rd  August 2022   
After the consultation  
A summary of the responses to this consultation and the Government response will be 
published and placed on Government websites at www.gov.uk/defra  
The summary will include a list of respondents and organisations that responded but not 
personal names, add resses or other contact details. However, information provided in 
response to this consultation document, including personal information, will be shared with 
the Devolved Administrations and may be subject to publication or release to other parties 
or to d isclosure in accordance with the access to information regimes e.g. Freedom of 
Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Data Protection Act 2018.  
 If you want information, including personal data that you provide to be treated as 
confidential, please say so cl early in writing when you submit your response to the 
consultation and explain why you need these details to be kept confidential.  
If we receive a request for disclosure under the FOIA, we will take full account of your 
explanation, but due to the law we cannot provide an assurance that confidentiality can be 
maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your 
IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as a confidentiality request.  
Defra is the data controller in res pect of any personal data that you provide, and Defra’s 
Personal Information Charter, which gives details of your rights in respect of the handling 
of your personal data, can be found at: 
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department -for-environment -foodrural -
affairs/about/personal -information -charter  
This consultation is being conducted in line with the Consultation Principles  set out in the 
Better Regulation Executive guidan ce.   
   
 
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 If you ha ve any comments or complaints about the consultation process, please address 
them to: By e -mail: consultation.coordinator@defra.gov.uk   
Or in writing to:  
Consultation Co -ordinator,  
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,  
1C, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London  
SW1P 3JR  
 
About You  
A wide range of businesses, organisations and individuals are involved with or take an 
interest in the supply of electrical equipment. The questions below are intended to grasp 
this diversity and put your responses in perspective with those of other respon dents.  
Q1. What is your name?  
Q2. What is your email address?  
This is optional, but if you enter your email address you will be able to return to edit your 
consultation response in Citizen Space at any time until you submit it. You will also receive 
an acknowledgement email when you submit a completed response.  
Q3. Which best describes you?  
Please provide the name of the organisation/ business you represent and an approximate 
size/number of staff (where applicable). (Please tick one option. If multiple categories 
apply, please choose the one which best describes the organisation you are representing 
in your response.)  
- Business representative organisation/trade body  
- Producer of electrical and electronic equipment  
- Business end -user of electrical or electronic equipment  
- Public end -user of electrical or electronic equipment (eg NHS, educational 
institution)  
- Distributor (including Online Marketplaces)  
- Local government  
- Community group  
- Non-governmental organisation  
- Charity or social enter prise   
   
 
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 - Consultancy  
- Academic or research  
- Individual  
- Other  
- If you answered ‘Other’, please provide details:  
 
Confidentiality and data protection information   
A summary of responses to this consultation will be published on the Government website 
at: www.gov.uk/defra . An annex to the consultation summary will list all organisations that 
responded but will not include per sonal names, addresses or other contact details.  Defra 
may publish the content of your response to this consultation to make it available to the 
public without your personal name and private contact details (e.g.  home address, email 
address, etc).   
If you click on ‘Yes’ in response to the question asking if you would like anything in your 
response to be kept confidential, you are asked to state clearly what information you would 
like to be kept as confidential and explain your reasons for confidentiality. T he reason for 
this is that information in responses to this consultation may be subject to release to the 
public or other parties in accordance with the access to information law (these are 
primarily the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIRs), t he Freedom of 
Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA)). We have 
obligations, mainly under the EIRs, FOIA and DPA, to disclose information to  particular 
recipients  or to the public in certain circumstances. In view of this, your e xplanation of your 
reasons for requesting confidentiality for all or part of your response would help us balance 
these obligations for disclosure against any obligation of confidentiality. If we receive a 
request for the information that you have provided in your response to this consultation, 
we will take full account of your reasons for requesting confidentiality of your response, but 
we cannot guarantee that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances.   
If you click on ‘No’ in response to the question asking if you would like anything in your 
response to be kept confidential, we will be able to release the content of your response to 
the public, but we won’t make your personal name and private contact details publicly 
available.   
There may be o ccasions when Defra will share the information you provide in response to 
the consultation, including any personal data with external analysts. This is for the 
purposes of consultation response analysis and provision of a report of the summary of 
responses  only.  This consultation is being conducted in line with the Cabinet Office 
“Consultation Principles” and be found 
at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/c onsultation -principles -guidance .  
Please find our latest privacy notice uploaded as a related document alongs ide our 
consultation document.     
   
 
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  If you have any comments or complaints about the consultation process, please address 
them to:   
- Consultation on amendments to the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous 
Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations  
- Consultation Coordinator, Defra   
2nd Floor, Foss House,  Kings Pool,    
1-2 Peasholme  Green, York, YO1 7PX   
- Or email:  consultation.coordinator@defra.gov.uk   
Q4. Would you like your response to be co nfidential?  
 Yes / No If you answered ‘Yes’, please provide your reason.  
Background  
The EU RoHS Directive limits the use of specified hazardous substances in the 
manufacture of certain electrical and electronic products.  The UK played a key role in 
devel oping the original European legislation, and the RoHS Regulations transposed the 
EU RoHS Directive into UK law. The RoHS Regulations limits for the use of 10 substances 
and maximum concentration values tolerated by weight in homogeneous materials as 
follow s: 
Lead (0.1%)  
Mercury (0.1%)  
Cadmium (0.01%)  
Hexavalent chromium (0.1%)  
Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) (0.1%)  
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) (0.1%)  
Butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) (0.1%)  
Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) (0.1%)  
The scope of the RoHS Regulations  is wide ranging, covering most types of electrical and 
electronic equipment intended for household or commercial use. A limited list of products 
is exempt such as large -scale fixed installations, large -scale industrial tools, military 
equipment, items des igned specifically for R&D, and most forms of transport and active 
implant devices.   
   
 
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 As explained above , businesses can apply for exemptions that allow the manufacture and 
supply of products that exceed these threshold limits where it can be proven tha t 
alternative less hazardous substances are not available. Following the UK withdrawal from 
the EU, the Secretary of State now has the power to determine applications for 
exemptions for products supplied to or in Great Britain. Businesses can apply to the 
Secretary of State for new exemptions and renewal of existing exemptions.  A list of 
existing exemptions can be found in Table 1, Schedule A2, of the 2012 RoHS 
Regulations2. 
Impacts on Business  
Our initial analysis indicates that the overall impact the charge will have on businesses will 
be low. Annual costs to businesses are expected to be below the £5m per annum 
threshold for which an impact assessment is required.  It should be noted that applications 
for exemptions are regularly made by tr ade associations on behalf of their members thus 
allowing the costs incurred to be spread across several companies operating in a given 
sector.  Successful applications are often made for up to 5 years (7 years for medical 
equipment) meaning that cost can be amortised across several years.  
There are currently five exemptions for which a renewal application could in future be 
received and for which the application fee would be applied. In addition, the Secretary of 
State is considering 12 cases in relati on to lamps that were submitted to the EU whilst the 
UK was a member state. If these are approved , then a further renewal  could be sought in 
future. Since leaving the EU and the end of the Transition Period in January 2021 we have 
only received one a pplication for a new exemption.  We therefore do not anticipate more 
than five or six applications a year.  
Industry is already familiar with the existing legislation in this area and have already largely 
adjusted their products such that they no longer us e the listed hazardous substances, or 
have already applied for any necessary exemptions. The current recast EU RoHS 
Directive was adopted some 10 years ago and industry has largely adapted to the 
substance restrictions.  Indeed, six of the restricted subst ances were covered by the 
original EU RoHS Directive adopted in 2002.  The scope of the recast EU RoHS Directive 
in 2012 was extended to medical equipment and industrial control and monitoring devices 
but those sectors have also largely responded to ensure  equipment placed on the market 
now meets the requirements. Thus, we do not anticipate these changes will significantly 
change the behaviour or plans of companies in the affected sectors   
 
2 Table 1, Schedule A2 of the 2012 RoHS Regulations 
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/3032/schedule/A2  
  
   
 
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 The Proposal  
We propose to use powers in the EU Withdrawal Act ( Schedule 4, Part 1, paragraph 1) to 
make new regulations that would allow the Secretary of State to charge a fee to recover 
costs incurred by government in determining applications for exemptions to the substance 
restrictions in the RoHS Regulations.  
How much is the fee, and how would it be calculated?    
We propose a flat fee of £39,721 per application. This sum is based on the cost of external 
technical support procured to support the determination of applications, our experience of 
costs associated w ith determining recent applications made under transitional provisions 
in the 2020 Regulations and estimated costs of consulting on applications. It is proposed 
that the fee:  
● is paid at the time the application is submitted.    
● is refunded on a pro -rata ba sis should the application be withdrawn, to ensure only 
costs incurred up to that point are charged to the applicant.  
● is partially refunded where it is deemed the resources incurred in processing and 
appraising the application falls below the level of fee  charged  
The fee payable would be set in Regulations or in any charging scheme the Secretary may 
subsequently make under the Regulations. Such a scheme would allow us to adjust the 
level of the fee in future, for example to allow us to account for inflatio n, or to reflect 
changes to the costs of external technical support following completion of a competitive 
tender process. Any proposals contained in a charging scheme will be consulted on before 
publication.  
What happens if Defra cannot process an applicat ion?  
As is the case now, the onus will be on the applicant to provide all the information 
necessary to process their application. If the applicant is unable to provide all the 
necessary information the fee will be retained and the processing of the applica tion will be 
suspended until the information is received or until the application is withdrawn.  
 
When would a fee be introduced?  
We intend  subject to the outcome of this consultatio n, to lay Regulations in Parliament this  
year.  Once approved by Parliament, these Regulations would  make provision for the 
introduction of an application fee from 6th April 2023 . 
In which circumstances would  a fee not  be required?   
   
 
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 The 2020 Regulations made provision for transitional measures (regulations 9 and 10) in 
respect of the applications made to the EU before the end of the Transition Period but 
where a decision on those applications had not been made before 31 December 2020.  
These transitional measures remove the need for businesses to make separate 
applications to GB and allow the Secretary of State to decide whether or not to follow EU 
decisions on these transitional cases.  
The proposal to charge a fee for determining appl ications for exemptions made under 
regulation 6 of the 2020 Regulations will not apply to these transitional cases. In other 
words, the fee will not apply to applications for exemptions that were submitted to the EU 
while the UK was still a member of the E U for which a decision remained outstanding on 
31 December 2020.   
Where the Secretary of State uses powers in Regulation 5 of the 2020 regulations to grant 
an application  with no fee is payable.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
   
 
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 Table 1: breakdown of fees  
Activity  
Consideration of matters relevant 
to the application, including matters 
in regulation 5(2) to (5) of the 2020 
Regulations and the technical 
support required to consider such 
matters.  
Matters include  
● the availability and reliability 
of substitute material s and the 
socio -economic impact of 
substitution  
●  whether the duration of the 
exemption, which will usually 
be either 5 or 7 years, will 
have any adverse impacts on 
innovation  
●  the overall environmental, 
social and economic impacts 
of the exemption for the  
duration of the exemption   
 
● the exemption does not breach 
environmental protection 
afforded by GB REACH  
 Cost  
£14,835  
 
Preparation and publication of 
consultation  £11,583  
  
   
 
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 Analysis of consultation responses 
and publication of summary of 
responses to the consultation  £12,452  
 
Other administrative costs 
including publication of a summary 
of the  application  £851  
Total  £39,721   
   
 
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 Questions:  
5. Do you agree or disagree that the gov should introduce a fee, charged on a cost 
recovery basis, for processing applications for an exemption to the Restriction of 
the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment 
Regulations?  
Agree  
Disagree  
Don’t know  
Please provide evidence to support your answer  
6. Do you agree or disagree that the proposed fee of £39,721 appears to be reflective 
of the costs likely to arise in appraising and processing applications?  
Agree  
Disagree  
Don’t know  
Please provide evidence to support your answer  
 
 
7. Do you agree or disagree that, should an application be withdrawn, the fee should 
be refunded on a pro -rata basis, to reflect costs incurred until that point?  
Agree  
Disagree  
Don’t know  
Please provide evidence to support your answer  
8. Do you agree or disagree that, in circumstances where we are able to process an 
application more quickly or cheaply than expected,  we should refund the difference 
back to the applicant?  
Agree   
   
 
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 Disagree  
Don’t know  
Please provide e vidence to support your answer  
9. Do you agree or disagree that a commencement date of 6th April 2023 for the 
charging is sufficient time for business to adjust to the introduction of an 
application fee?  
Agree  
Disagree  
Don’t know  
Please provide evidence to support your answer    
 
10. Do you agree or disagree with our assessment of the impact that the application 
fee will have on business?  
Agree  
Disagree  
Don’t know  
Please provide evidence to support your answer  
 
11. Please provide any further comments on the proposal to introduce a fee for 
processing applications for exemptions to the RoHS Regulations .