G/TBT/W/693  
 
26 November 2019  
(19-8079) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
 EUROPEAN UNION  - DRAFT COMMISSION REGULATION LA YING DOWN ECO -DESIGN  
REQUIREMENTS FOR ELE CTRONIC DISPLAYS PUR SUANT TO DIRECTIVE 2 009/125/EC OF 
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAM ENT AND OF THE COUNC IL, AMENDING COMMISS ION 
REGULATION (EC) NO 1 275/2008 AND REPEALI NG COMMISSION REGULA TION (EC) 
642/2009 (AND ITS AC COMPANY ING ANNEXES )" 
STATEMENT BY CHINA TO THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS T O TRADE  
13 – 15 NOVEMBER  2019 
The following communication, dated 13 November  2019, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of China . 
 
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1.1.  The European Union  issued the TBT notification on the Draft Commission Regulation laying 
down eco -design requirements for electronic displays  in G/TBT/N/EU/609  on 9 October 2018. After 
the comment period, the European Commission revise d the regulation and announced a new version 
on 8 May 2019. Compared with original one, the new version is much stricter and add s new 
requirements, especially for prohibiting using halogenated flame retardants. So, we raise our 
concerns as follow s: 
a. Such new requirements should be notified  to WTO and provide comment opportunities for 
other Members.  
b. Suggest EU cancel the ban of halogenated flame retardants in D4 Annex II.  
i. Compared with the TBT Notification, the new version issued by the EU has introduced 
some new requirements for the contro l of halogenated flame retardants in D4 Annex 
II, i.e. the use of halogenated flame retardants is not allowed in the enclosure and 
stand of electronic displays. Considering the substantial impact of such requirements 
on global chemical industry and plastic s industry, this is a significant modification. 
However, the EU has failed to notify WTO Members of this modification, which 
apparently has violated the principle of transparency upheld by the WTO.  
ii. From a scientific point of view, toxicological research an d risk assessment of any 
chemical is based on a single chemical substance instead of a class of chemical 
substances. As far as halogenated flame retardants are concerned, there are nearly 
100 brominated and chlorinated flame retardants. It is oversimplifie d to assume that 
all chemical substances with halogen share the same attributes. Driven by 
technological development, we cannot deny the probability that additional green and 
eco-friendly halogenated flame retardants may be created in the future. In additi on, 
both halogenated and non -halogenated flame retardants have some products to be 
proven hazardous to environment and humans. For instance, PBB and PBDE, two 
halogenated flame retardants have been restricted for use by EU RoHS while most 
phosphate flame r etardants are labelled as H400 or H410 under EU CLP which suggests 
that they are very toxic to aquatic life. Thus, there has never been any regulation that 
bans a class of flame retardants containing a certain element simply for the hazard of 
one or severa l flame retardants with this element. In fact, even International Electro -
technical Commission (IEC) successively terminated the establishment of two low -
halogen standards in 2018, i.e., PT63031 and PAS63015.  G/TBT/W/693  
 
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  iii. Plastics with halogenated flame retardants has its unique advantage in recycling. 
Reusability of plastics containing flame retardants mainly depends on the physical and 
chemical properties of plastics and flame retardants. At present, TV enclosures are 
mainly made of ABS, HIPS, PC/ABS  plastic alloy and  HIPS/PPO plastic alloy. Among 
them, ABS and HIPS cannot meet the relevant flammability requirements unless they 
are added with the brominated flame retardants which mainly are Brominated Triazine 
and DBDPE. PC/ABS  plastic alloy and HIPS/PPO plastic alloy mainly use di -phosphate 
flame retardants like RDP or BDP. The pre -forming temperature of these plastics is 
generally between 200 -240℃. Among the aforementioned flame retardants, the 
thermal decomposition temperature of the two brominated flame retardants i s above 
320℃, while that of di -phosphate flame retardants is about 280 ℃. According to the 
mechanic recycling process for plastics, a higher thermal decomposition temperature 
of flame retardants usually implies a higher stability at high processing temperat ure 
and greater convenience for mechanic recycling. As indicated by practice, the ABS 
plastics added with halogenated flame retardants can maintain their original fire safety 
class after four or five times of recycling. This fully demonstrates the advantag e of the 
plastics with halogenated flame retardants in recycling.  
1.2.  If the clause cannot be removed ， EU is suggested to provide the scientific assessment report 
on the ban of halogenated flame retardants. It is also suggested that  the EU list the names of sp ecific 
halogenated flame retardants banned from using and provide related halogen test limits and test 
methods on a scientific basis with reference to the UN Stockholm Convention, EU REACH and RoHS 
or other relevant regulations.  
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