Data Exchange Standards

 March 25, 2020 | Written by GreenSoft Technology, Inc.

GreenSoft Technology hosts IEC Meeting

IEC 62474 Committee Addresses REACH Database Requirements

GreenSoft Technology is proud to have hosted a meeting of IEC National Experts in Las Vegas in January 2020.

Comprised of national experts from around the globe, the IEC 62474 maintenance and validation teams ensure the IEC 62474 data exchange standard supports industry data communication requirements, while also maintaining the IEC 62474 Declarable Substance List (DSL).

The IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) is the world’s leading organization for the preparation and publication of International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

IEC 62474 is an International Standard for the electrical and electronics industry on material declaration that includes an internationally recognized Declarable Substance List (DSL), a material declaration procedure, and an XML-schema for data exchange.

The IEC 62474 DSL is a list of regulated substances and substance groups which a manufacturer should declare to downstream manufacturers if present in electrical or electronic equipment (EEE). The list is based on requirements applicable to the EEE industry, and is screened to exclude substances which are not relevant to the electrical and electronic products.

In addition to ensuring that the IEC 62474 standard is current with all applicable regulations, the January meeting had a main objective of ensuring the IEC 62474 standard is able to support supply chain data communications required for compliance with the new EU REACH SCIP database.

Walter Jager of ECD compliance, Co-Convener of the IEC 62474 validation team, explains how the IEC data exchange standard is adapting to support the new SCIP database data reporting requirements:

"The IEC 62474 International material declaration standard is providing an effective and flexible method for suppliers and solution providers to communicate material and substance information in products for global regulations.  During its January 2020 meeting, the IEC 62474 Validation Team approved minor changes to the data exchange format to support all mandatory EU SCIP database fields and a few key optional fields that add value to industry." 

With the January 2021 deadline for companies to start loading information into the new database rapidly approaching, industry standards must adapt quickly.  No one understands this better than the IEC 62474 team members.

Rob Friedman of Siemens Healthineers (also a validation team co-convener), agrees:

"SCIP poses significant reporting challenges for many companies in the EEE industry. The IEC 62474 standardized material declaration will play an important role in the industry’s ability to exchange article, material, and substance data that meets SCIP reporting obligations. The data exchange version X8.10 was released March 15th, allowing suppliers, manufacturers and solution providers to begin incorporating the functionality into their systems for use in collecting information in 2020. "

GreenSoft’s Compliance Specialist, Randy Flinders, who has been a named expert on the IEC maintenance and validation teams for several years, also commented on the need for the industry to support the committee’s work:

“With requirements like the new SCIP database being thrown at the industry with very little time to implement, companies will need to rely on standards bodies and solution providers to provide the tools and capabilities needed to achieve compliance. While companies can be assured that the industry response to the SCIP database is going full steam ahead, they should also be involved in the process and stay aware of the latest information. We are all in this together.”

Larry Yen, President of GreenSoft, explains the importance of participation in industry standards committees, such as IEC to GreenSoft:

“Standards such as IEC 62474 are critical for the electronics industry to share data across the supply chain. Having Randy participate in developing these essential standards allows GreenSoft to tailor our data services and GreenData Manager software solutions to industry requirements and standard practices.

By setting common communication protocols and data formats, these standards allow for machine-to-machine exchange of substance content and compliance information between electronic systems, regardless of software or platform. This not only benefits GreenSoft, but the industry as a whole.

We were honored to support the efforts of the IEC standards work by hosting this year’s meeting in Las Vegas. We look forward to GreenSoft’s continued participation with the IEC in the future.”

For more information on the IEC 62474 standard and DSL, visit the IEC 62474 Blog, hosted by ECD Compliance.