The Brazilian government has enacted its long-awaited RoHS regulation for electrical and electronic equipment (EEE).
The environment ministry’s National Environment Council (CONAMA) published Resolution 516/2026 on 10 July, establishing restrictions on certain EEE hazardous substances made, sold and marketed in Brazil.
The resolution calls for the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA) to establish and manage the National Registry of Electrical and Electronic Equipment with Restrictions on Hazardous Substances. The ministry will be responsible for collecting, integrating, systemising and updating data.
Once the registry is available, EEE manufacturers and importers in Brazil will have one year to submit information and will have the option to self-declare compliance with RoHS. The companies, or their legal representatives who provide declarations on their behalf, will be held liable for the veracity of the information provided, according to the resolution.
Registration and technical documentation, which must be in Portuguese, will be confidential except for the publication of self-declaration records relating to products intended for consumer use.
Importers, distributors and retailers will be considered the equivalent of manufacturers under the resolution when they:
- place EEE on the market under their own trademark;
- alter manufactured EEE in such a way that RoHS compliance may be affected; and
- fail to comply with the RoHS obligations.
Restricted substances list
Brazil’s RoHS resolution restricts the same ten hazardous substances in EEE as the EU RoHS Directive:
- polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs);
- polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE);
- mercury;
- cadmium;
- hexavalent chromium (Cr VI);
- lead;
- di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP);
- benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP);
- dibutyl phthalate (DBP); and
- diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP).
The maximum mass limit in any homogeneous material is 0.01% for cadmium and 0.1% for the other nine substances.
Certain EEE – including wires, cables and spare parts for repair, reuse, functionality upgrades or capacity improvements – may only be made, imported, distributed or marketed in Brazil if they contain less than the threshold amount of the ten substances.
The resolution establishes separate deadlines, ranging from 180 days to four years from the date the resolution takes effect, for companies to adapt their products to the required concentration limits for each restricted substance.
The MMA may review the restricted substances list at least every five years.
Exemptions
Certain products are exempt from compliance requirements, including those placed on the market that were designed and manufactured before the restricted-substance deadlines.
To ensure predictability across global supply chains, the government will consider harmonising exemption periods with the "best periods" in other countries with RoHS restriction legislation, according to the resolution.
Temporary compliance exemptions may also be granted for specific EEE applications, provided they meet at least one of the following conditions:
- technical or scientific impossibility of eliminating or replacing any of the substances in the restrictions list;
- lack of guarantee regarding the reliability of using an alternative substance; or
- elimination or replacement of the chemical substance outweighs the expected benefits of the replacement in terms of product lifecycle, environment, health or human safety impacts.
The resolution does not apply to several categories of EEE equipment, including those that are:
- necessary for defence and security;
- designed to be sent into space or ground equipment necessary for satellite and space systems operations;
- large-scale fixed industrial equipment as well as large-scale fixed installations;
- mobile off-road machinery intended for professional use;
- electro-electronic implantable devices; and
- batteries and accumulators.
MMA will manage the list of exemptions, including company applications to grant, amend, renew and revoke exemptions, which will be made public.
Next steps
MMA is required to publish the following within 180 days of the resolution’s publication date:
- an initial list of exempted EEE and their respective applications;
- the procedures and criteria for applying and analysing requests for granting, altering, renewing or revoking exemptions; and
- technical documentation regarding the obligations of manufacturers.