Sources and method

Where the data comes from

The entries are those of Annex III and Annex IV of Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (RoHS). We used the consolidated text of 1 July 2026 published by the Publications Office of the European Union (CELEX 02011L0065-20260701), retrieved on 5 November 2026. That office states that a consolidated text is a documentation tool with no legal effect: the acts published in the Official Journal are the authentic versions.

Code, scope and dates are copied from that text by a program, without rewriting. Annex III is a table with the columns "Exemption" and "Scope and dates of applicability". Annex IV is a list of numbered paragraphs in which the dates, where there are any, sit inside the paragraph; on those pages we show the whole paragraph and, separately, the date wording we found in it.

Entries of Annex III that only introduce a group of sub-entries (for example 1, 2(a), 2(b), 3 and 4(c)) have no page of their own. Their wording is shown on the page of each sub-entry under "Heading entry in the annex".

• The consolidated text on EUR-Lex

What Article 5 says about validity and renewal

Article 5(2) of the directive, first paragraph: Measures adopted in accordance with point (a) of paragraph 1 shall, for categories 1 to 7, 10 and 11 of Annex I, have a validity period of up to 5 years and, for categories 8 and 9 of Annex I, a validity period of up to 7 years. The validity periods are to be decided on a case-by-case basis and may be renewed.

Article 5(2), second paragraph: For the exemptions listed in Annex III as at 21 July 2011, unless a shorter period is specified, the maximum validity period, which may be renewed, shall be: (a) for categories 1 to 7 and category 10 of Annex I, 5 years from 21 July 2011; (b) for categories 8 and 9 of Annex I, 7 years from the relevant dates laid down in Article 4(3); and (c) for category 11 of Annex I, 5 years from 22 July 2019.

Article 5(2), third paragraph: For the exemptions listed in Annex IV as at 21 July 2011, the maximum validity period, which may be renewed, shall be 7 years from the relevant dates laid down in Article 4(3), unless a shorter period is specified.

Article 5(5): An application for renewal of an exemption shall be made no later than 18 months before the exemption expires. The existing exemption shall remain valid until a decision on the renewal application is taken by the Commission.

Article 5(6): In the event that the application for renewal of an exemption is rejected or that an exemption is revoked, the exemption shall expire at the earliest 12 months, and at the latest 18 months, after the date of the decision.

Article 4(4)(f) lists among the cases where Article 4(1) does not apply to cables or spare parts: EEE which benefited from an exemption and which was placed on the market before that exemption expired as far as that specific exemption is concerned.

How we word dates

Each page quotes the dates text of the annex word for word. Where an entry has one date, we write "the annex states an expiry date of" that date. When that date is before 5 November 2026, the day we retrieved the text, we say the date has passed. We do not say the exemption has expired, because under Article 5(5) it stays valid until a decision on a renewal application, and this site does not track those applications.

Where a sub-entry has several dates for different equipment categories, we show all of them and do not reduce them to one. Where an entry has no date, the page says so.

The wording of the annex can differ from the legal situation of a product, for instance for spare parts, or after a later amending act. This site shows the annex of the consolidated text and nothing else.

What this site does not say

We do not say whether an exemption applies to a particular product, and we do not say what a manufacturer is required to do. The decision belongs to the person who places the equipment on the market, read against the official text.