US reintroduces bill that seeks to stop flow of e-waste to China

By Paul Ploumis

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The US has reintroduced HR 917, a bill that seeks to regulate the flow of electronic waste to China, which in turn is aimed to curb the flow of Chinese counterfeit electronics into the country. The bipartisan bill, Secure E-waste Export and Recycling Act (SEERA), was introduced by Representatives Republican Paul Cook and Democrat Gene Green. The bill was originally introduced in June last year. The legislation needs to be passed and signed into law by the President and will go into effect one year after its passage.

The proposed bill amends existing Export Administration Regulations by designating non-working or non-tested used electronic items as “Electronic Waste”, which cannot be exported outside of the US unless certain specific conditions are met. The bill proposes to keep these items in the US, thereby keeping them out of the hands of counterfeiters and data thieves.

According to Cook, the bill will ensure that the US does not export electronics that come back to the country as counterfeit parts, including critical military equipment, thereby threatening national security. Green reminded that electronic waste is the fastest growing segment of US’ domestic waste stream.

As per provisions of the bill, a person or entity who wishes to export Exempted Electronic Waste Items must be registered with the Secretary of Commerce and listed on a publicly available registry. The registration will help watchdog organizations to better track the export of potential counterfeit products and minimize the chances of exporters hiding such transactions. The bill also proposes various reporting and declaration requirements to ensure better traceability of electronic products. In addition, the Customs and Border Protection inspectors will have the authority to stop the shipment and hold the shipper responsible for any such act of violation.

Meantime, the bill encourages export of tested working equipment. The growth in such exports is expected to generate tens of thousands of well-paid jobs in the country. Also, by persuading domestic recycling of untested non-working electronics, such materials could be effectively kept out of the hands of counterfeiters.

The electronic products not covered under the scope of the Secure E-waste Export and Recycling Act include new electronic items sold for use in commerce, electronics exported for personal use, limited to 5 items per transaction and electronics exported by an entity in the US to another foreign location under the same ownership.

Incidentally, the investigation carried out by the Senate Armed Services Committee into counterfeit electronic parts in the Department of Defense (DOD) supply chain had uncovered overwhelming evidence of large numbers of counterfeit parts making their way into critical defense systems. The Committee had identified nearly 1,800 cases of entry of suspected counterfeit parts back through the supply chain.

The confidential GPS-tracking survey conducted by the Basel Action Network (BAN) authorities had revealed that majority of the used electronic devices are exported to countries including Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Pakistan, Mexico, Thailand, Cambodia and Kenya instead of being recycled within the country. Also, a recent UN report had found that nearly 60% to 90% of the world’s electronic waste are traded or dumped illegally.