Due Diligence Strategies…when you’re not going to be fully compliant in time                        

  “Due Diligence” is a RoHS-related legal principle. If you are worried about being 

   audited by an EU member state, it takes into account “reasonable steps”. It holds 

   the promise of reducing penalties. If done well, it mitigates the risk of a dreaded 

   product ban or recall.

   EICTA – the EU’s electronics industry association – has advocated for implementing 

   due diligence principles. 

The UK strongly supports it. There are indicators that it will be accepted by other nations as well.

But what is due diligence?

The bad news is that building a due diligence defense requires more than you likely think. Recently-circulated 

case law examples show that the courts will probably expect more than token gestures.

The good news is that due diligence involves many activities you are already doing to comply – with well-crafted 

additions.

GCG assists its customers in evaluating and deepening their due diligence activities.

For example, current customers are:

·          Documenting the heck out of what their doing, including non-obvious activities

·          Implementing GCG-designed customer interviews and supplier trainings

·          Gathering GCG’s unique third-party evaluations re: the exempt status of products

Key Questions:

·          If you are not fully compliant by July 1, 2006, what financial risk do you face?

·          Are you proactively building a due diligence defense, and, if “yes”, have you gone beyond the obvious 

      reasonable steps?

·          Would you be comfortable pleading your current due diligence defense to a Belgian, German or Italian judge?