Media Inquires:
Steven Kenney
skenney@hcm.hitachi.com
603-669-4347, Ext. 229

Hitachi Adopts RoHS Standards

Manchester, NH September, 2005: Hitachi Cable Manchester has taken a giant step forward in ensuring a cleaner, safer environment for the future. Hitachi Cable is one of the first U.S. cable manufacturers to adopt the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Regulations, typically referred to as RoHS, in the manufacture of its copper and fiber optic communication cables.

RoHS, which originated in Europe, sets guidelines regarding the use of certain substances in the manufacture of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). The RoHS regulations ban the sale of EEE in Europe that contain more than a well defined level of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE). The RoHS directive, also known as EU Directive 2002/95/EG will become mandatory in Europe on July 1, 2006. In the United States, California has already crafted their own version of the standard (SB20), and it will become law in 2007. Twenty other states are currently drafting their own bills regarding the restriction of these substances and more are certain to follow.

In choosing to adopt the RoHS regulations early, Michael Gallant, Vice President of Quality and Administration said, "There really wasn’t a reason to wait regarding the implementation of RoHS. If a positive environmental impact could be achieved by becoming RoHS compliant, we wanted to do so as quickly as possible. Our customers can be confident that they are installing not only one of the finest cables on the market, but one that’s RoHS compliant as well."

To learn more about other Hitachi Cable products, visit the company website at http://www.hcm.hitachi.com.