CONAMA Resolution No. 516/2026 Published to Establish the “Brazilian RoHS”

The National Environmental Council (CONAMA) has published Resolution No. 516/2026, referred to as the “Brazilian RoHS” (due to its similarity to the European directive “Restriction of Hazardous Substances – RoHS”), which establishes restrictions on the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment commercialized in Brazil.

Under the resolution, electrical and electronic equipment, including wires, cables, and spare parts for repair, reuse, functionality upgrades, or capacity improvements, may only be manufactured, imported, distributed, and marketed within the national territory—provided they do not contain specific substances in concentrations exceeding the following maximum permitted limits per mass of homogeneous material:

• 0.1% for polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), mercury, hexavalent chromium, lead, di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, benzyl butyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, and diisobutyl phthalate; and
• 0.01% for cadmium.

Manufacturers and importers must bring their products into compliance (i) immediately for PBB and PBDE; (ii) within 180 days for mercury; (iii) within three years for cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and lead; and (iv) within four years for phthalates.

To enable monitoring and enforcement of the new requirements, the National Registry of Electrical and Electronic Equipment Subject to Hazardous Substance Restrictions has been created. Registration is mandatory and must be completed prior to the manufacture or importation of the products. Each piece of equipment, model, or product family must be registered individually, generating a self-declaration of conformity that must accompany the product. The deadline for inclusion in the registry is one year from the date on which the system becomes available. In addition, participants throughout the supply chain will be subject to obligations aimed at ensuring product compliance, maintaining technical documentation in Portuguese, preserving records for five years following product discontinuation, ensuring equipment traceability, and maintaining records of identified non-conformities.

Furthermore, distributors and retailers must require manufacturers’ and importers’ registration (on a self-declaratory basis) and the corresponding self-declaration of conformity as a condition for commercialization. Importers, distributors, and retailers will be deemed manufacturers whenever they market products under their own brand, modify a product in a manner that affects its conformity, or fail to require the applicable registration and self-declaration.

In the event that non-conformity is identified after commercialization, the manufacturer or importer shall notify the federal environmental authority and the relevant licensing authority, inform distributors and retailers to cease commercialization, adjust the production process, and recall affected products, while also notifying consumers at their own expense. If the non-conformity cannot be remedied, the equipment shall be subject to environmentally sound final disposal in accordance with Federal Law No. 12,305/2010 (the National Solid Waste Policy). For enforcement purposes, the federal environmental authority may request product samples, require testing by accredited laboratories, and seize products. The responsible party will be liable for all resulting costs, regardless of other applicable sanctions.

The resolution does not apply, among other cases, to equipment necessary for national defense and state security, large-scale fixed industrial installations and equipment, means of transportation for passengers and goods (excluding self-propelled personal mobility devices), implantable electronic medical devices, permanently installed photovoltaic modules, batteries, and equipment specifically designed for research and development activities conducted between companies or institutions.

The Environmental, Climate Change and Sustainability practice of Tauil & Chequer Advogados in association with Mayer Brown LLP remains available to provide further clarification.