Industry Compliance

Conflict Minerals

The four most commonly mined conflict minerals (known as 3TGs, from their initials) are cassiterite (for tin), wolframite (for tungsten), coltan (for tantalum), and gold ore, which are extracted from the eastern Congo, and passed through a variety of intermediaries before being purchased. Hardware Specialty is fully aware and in compliance with Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act and has continued due diligence since the inception of the rule.

 

 

 

 

DFARS: Specialty Metals

Beginning with the 1973 Defense Appropriation Act, Specialty Metals were added to the list of items covered under the Berry Amendment. The original objective of Congress was to protect the special metal industry, while providing sufficient administrative flexibility for the DoD. Since that time, the Specialty Metal requirements were moved to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS.) To maintain continued DFARS Compliance, Hardware Specialty has identified and segregated non-compliant inventory, and continually maintains traceability at lot tag level. All product certifications are obtained from the source of supply as to the country of melt.

 

 

 

DFARS: Cybersecurity

All DoD contractors that process, store or transmit Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) must meet DFARS minimum security standards.  DFARS provides a set of adequate security controls to safeguard information systems where contractor data resides. Based on NIST Special Publication 800-171 "Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Non-Federal Information Systems and Organizations," manufacturers must implement these security controls through all levels of their supply chain.  Hardware Specialty meets these standards.

 

 

 

ITAR

International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) is a United States regulatory regime that restricts and controls the export of defense and military related technologies to safeguard U.S. national security and further U.S. foreign policy objectives.  Hardware Specialty maintains an active registration as exporter with the U.S. State Department and Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance.

 

 

 

 

 

REACH & RoHS

REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) is a European Union Commission (EUC) Regulation on chemicals and their safe use. The REACH regulations became effective on June 1, 2007 and were phased in until 2018.  REACH establishes specific duties and obligations on a business in the European Union (EU) which manufactures or imports a substance or article that includes a “substance of very high concern” (SVHC) in concentrations of more than 0.1% w/w. 

The Restriction of Hazardous Substances impacts the entire electronics industry and many electrical products as well. The original RoHS, also known as Directive 2002/95/EC, originated in the European Union in 2002 and restricts the use of six hazardous materials found in electrical and electronic products. Hardware Specialty has dedicated specific department resources to the identification and verification of all of our products and have been in full compliance with RoHS since 2006.