After a draft bill was proposed in the summer of 2018, things remained quiet for a very long time regarding RoHS legislation in Brazil. Nearly 10 years later, Brazil’s National Environmental Council (CONAMA) has approved the legislation. CONAMA Resolution No. 516/2026 (known as the Brazilian RoHS) was published on July 10 and took effect immediately.
For companies that already sell electronic or electrical equipment in Brazil—or plan to do so—now is the right time to focus on the local requirements. Essentially, the Brazilian RoHS is the Brazilian counterpart to the EU Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS). Thus, the 10 restricted substances and their limit values are the same as those specified in European Directive 2011/65/EU.
Brazilian RoHS sets the following deadlines for compliance with the substance restrictions:
- PBB and PBDE: immediate compliance as of the date of entry into force
- Mercury: 180 daysfrom the date of entry into force
- Cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and lead: 3 years
- DEHP, BBP, DBP, and DIBP: 4 years
According to Article 5 of the resolution, temporary exemptions from the substance restrictions are also to be provided for certain uses. Within 180 days of the publication of Resolution No. 516/2026, the Ministério do Meio Ambiente e Mudança do Clima (MMA) must publish a preliminary list of facilities and applications, along with the respective exemption periods, along with the procedures and criteria applicable to applications for the granting, modification, extension, or revocation of exemptions; as well as the minimum technical documentation required to demonstrate product compliance.
Similarly, a national registry must still be established. This is because the Brazilian RoHS requires mandatory registration prior to manufacture or import for each device, model, or product family. The deadline for entering data into this registry is one year from the date the system becomes available. In addition, a self-declaration of conformity must be issued, which must be included with the product packaging or made available via an easily accessible digital tool, and must also be made publicly available on the Internet.
According to Article 19, the crossed-out trash can symbol is to be used as the marking to indicate separate collection.
Preliminary conclusion: We must await the list of temporary exemptions for specific uses and determine whether these align with the European exemptions, which are currently undergoing changes. Otherwise, the challenges lie primarily in organizing the compliance infrastructure—companies need a responsible entity based in Brazil, registered products, localized declarations, and documented traceability before they are legally permitted to sell on the Brazilian market.
Some implementation steps are still under development. GLOBALNORM will keep you up to date.
Do you have questions about this article or about the CONAMA Resolution in general? We’re happy to provide further assistance. Simply send us an email with your question or use our contact form.
Author's note
This article has been machine translated into English.
TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
CONAMA stands for Conselho Nacional do Meio Ambiente and is Brazil’s National Environmental Council, which operates under the Ministry of the Environment.
