Chip giants oppose Euro rules change

Chip and component manufacturers look set to fall under European Union rules as Brussels insists they conform to the EMC standards.

Big Japanese companies including Toshiba, Hitachi and other big players have lobbied Brussels to exempt them from having to test DRam.

Because the big companies, including Korean giants Samsung and Lucky Goldstar, invest heavily in Europe, Brussels is understood to be bending over backwards to limit the regulations.

But Alan Stanley, MD of chip distributor Dane-Elec, said he thought it inevitable that the European Union would eventually impose sanctions on manufacturers. 'One of our suppliers said that they were under the impression that they had to conform,' he said. 'It's almost impossible for them to comply because they're not sure how they would test them.' Most chip companies seem unaware of any such regulations. AMD, which partners with Fujitsu in Europe, said it had not heard of any extension of the regulations.

But Keith Warburton, head of the Personal Computer Association, said he had heard plans were pending. 'At the moment, discrete components are not included in the regulations but moves are afoot to include them,' he said.