SATO products to be fully compliant with the RoHS Directive on or before July 1, 2006

As a pioneer in and one of the established leaders of the Automatic Identification and Data Collection (AIDC) industry, SATO is aware of its role as a responsible corporate citizen in an increasingly globalised context. A determinedly proactive and socially responsible approach has always underpinned SATO’s corporate philosophy as we endeavour to contribute to society through precision, saving labour and limited resources.

The new European Union environmental legislation, the Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (ROHS) Directive, comes in force on July 1, 2006. SATO has been working proactively to align its global environmental protection program with the Directive. SATO is committed to making all its applicable products supplied into the countries of the EU fully compliant with the RoHS Directive on or before the effective date.

The new regulations set maximum concentration limits on the use of six environmentally-sensitive substances in electrical and electronic equipment: lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE).

SATO products to be RoHS-compliant worldwide

• SATO’s goal is to go beyond the short-term RoHS compliance obligations and has set   requirements for all its applicable products to be RoHS-compliant worldwide (except for   Japan). Existing products and operations are being evaluated and are in the process of   being upgraded to be compliant with both the material and production process
  requirements of RoHS.


Parts supplies: Compliance and exemption

• There are some exemptions to the RoHS Directive: notably spare parts for the repair or
  reuse of products put on the market before 1 July 2006 and replacement components that   expand the capacity of and/or upgrade of products placed on the market before 1 July 2006.

• SATO will replace parts that do not comply with the Directive for all applicable products   (except for DR300) that are put on the market after 1 July 2006.


SATO is committed to partnering environmentally responsible suppliers

• As such it requires all its suppliers to comply with all applicable laws, regulations, orders and   policies when providing products and services to SATO. SATO is making every effort to   ensure supplier readiness, from the proper part identification, to part and supplier   qualifications to compliance certification, to materials declarations.


  SATO is taking all the necessary steps to meet the compliance standards, which ranks high   on its corporate social responsibility agenda. Our policies of safe, environment-friendly and   designed for easy recycling product development are part of and cannot be separated from   our vision of long-term growth and profitability. This respect for natural resources underpins   our commitment to global environment and all members of SATO staff worldwide continue to   apply themselves to the company’s business on the basis of this shared sense of mission.