Chinese-made appliances and electronic exports worth US$56 billion will be subject to increasingly strict tests before being shipped to the European Union (EU), it was announced Thursday.

From January 18 next year, goods will undergo a national standard examination focusing on six hazardous substances including lead, mercury and cadmium, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said.

A joint effort by the country's product quality watchdog and the Certification and Accreditation Administration, the standard is in line with the EU's Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS), which will come into force on July 1, 2006.

The move is to help China's manufactures better cope with the inevitable barriers set by the RoHS by pushing them to reduce the hazardous materials in their products.

The authorities also named 18 domestic laboratories responsible for carrying out the test. "We hope that more producers in China will get to know about the RoHS directive," said Wang Xin from the administration.

(China Daily July 29, 2005)