Ascend Frequency Devices RoHS Compliance Statement

Ascend Frequency Devices is committed to supporting both customers and suppliers in all efforts to be a RoHS compliant distributor of electronic components and have been working towards RoHS compliance since late 2004. Already, Ascend has been successfully dealing with their customer's own specific RoHS requirements and have delivered RoHS compliant parts with test results to a number of satisfied customers.

A collection of Ascend product datasheets are available on request for both RoHS compliant and non RoHS compliant parts and samples can be supplied on request.

Ascend will not be changing their part numbers but will be introducing ' RoHS compliant ' or ' Pb Free ' into the description line of product labels, packing notes and invoices.

Should you require either RoHS compliant product, or RoHS exempt product, please ensure that this is specified at the time of a product enquiry and again when product orders are placed.

RoHS Directive

The Restriction of Hazardous Substance (RoHS) is new a directive legislation introduced by the European Union and will be enforced as from July 1, 2006. The RoHS directive will effectively ban the use of certain substances in new electrical and electronic equipment products put onto the market. The banned substances are lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), hexavalent chromium (CRVI) along with polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) .... the final two substances are generally found in flame retardant materials.

RoHS Recast (RoHS 2)

Directive 2002/95/EC restricts the use of lead, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, mercury and polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDE) for electrical and electronic equipment put on the market since 1st July 2006.

The Recast RoHS Directive maintains these restrictions and extends them to medical devices (category 8) and monitoring and control instruments (category 9). The recast also introduces a new category 11 that includes all Electrical and Electronic Equipment not covered by any of the other 10 categories in the scope of the Recast RoHS Directive after a period of 8 years. In addition, the Recast RoHS Directive outlines a methodology for reviewing the existing substance restrictions and for introducing new restrictions as required.

With regard to Ascend Frequency Devices product compliance, nothing changes as a result of these Recast initiatives. The same six substances and same threshold limits for each still apply.

The expansion of the industry scope however will require RoHS compliance for a portion of our customer base not previously affected. In particular those companies manufacturing medical devices and monitoring and control instruments.

The recast also includes CE marking requirements. However, we do not need to mark Ascend products, as they are not an item included in Annex I. The CE marking requirement also establishes certain minimum requirements for the systems used by component suppliers to document RoHS compliance. Ascend is currently investigating this requirement and will comply as required.

REACH is a European Community Regulation on chemicals and their safe use (EC 1907/2006). It deals with the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical substances. The law entered into force on 1 June 2007. The goal of REACH is to improve the protection of human health and the environment through the better and earlier identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical substances.

Ascend REACH Statement

REACH is a European Community Regulation on chemicals and their safe use (EC 1907/2006). It deals with the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical substances. The law entered into force on 1 June 2007. The goal of REACH is to improve the protection of human health and the environment through the better and earlier identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical substances.

Ascend’s current product status as it relates to REACH is as follows:

Standard Cataloged Frequency Timing Device Products

All Ascend standard cataloged Frequency Timing Device products (manufactured at multiple locations) meet the REACH definition of an Article. Articles are exempt from REACH unless they contain any SVHCs (Substance of Very High Concern) exceeding 0.1% by weight. Ascend uses materials and processes that assure that none of the European Chemicals Agency’s currently identified 138 SVHC’s, in excess of 0.1% by weight, are intentionally added in any of our standard Frequency Timing Device products / articles. Therefore, Ascend is in compliance with REACH and is not required to withdraw any standard product because of registration concerns. In addition, we have not been informed by any of our suppliers of any raw material withdrawals.

Non-standard, Non Cataloged Products

Certain non-standard products may contain SVHC's which are identified by REACH. Going forward, all substances, that require registration, will be pre-registered by our upstream suppliers or us. Subsequently, all substances that require registration will be registered in accordance with REACH.

A corporate REACH coordinator has been appointed at our facility. They will oversee all REACH relevant activities, including contacting suppliers regarding their intention to register certain substances (where necessary), communicate safety information to employees and customers, and monitor the SVHC (Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern for Authorization) list for future additions.

Conflict Minerals Statement

Ascend is committed to social and environmental responsibility in our activities as well as within our supply chain. In addition to our commitment, we must meet regulatory obligations in addition to specific customer requirements when flowed down to us.

On August 22, 2012, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released the rules for section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. These rules require U.S. publically traded companies to trace the Tantalum, Tin, Tungsten and Gold in their products through the supply chain, and disclose whether they came from "conflict mines" in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Although Ascend is not publically traded, our intention is to comply with these rules as a part of our community responsibility. We also want to be responsive to many of our customers that are publically traded.

The Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) have created a conflict Minerals Reporting Template as a common means to collect information on the source of Tantalum, Tin, Tungsten and Gold. This template is being widely used across the Electronics industry. The template, training materials, and additional information can be found at www.conflictfreesmelter.org.

Ascend is using this template for our internal due diligence activities and reporting to our customers. This template is available for customer review. Part of our due diligence included the identification of materials or minerals of concern in our products, which is now complete.

We are requiring the following from our suppliers, if any of the conflict minerals are intentionally added and are necessary to the functionality or production of any applicable product: • A completed EICC-GeSI Conflict Minerals Reporting template. • Provide a certification that the products supplied to Ascend that contain tantalum, tin, tungsten or gold did not originate from the Democratic Republic of the Congo or adjoining countries. • Provide the names and pertinent information of the smelters they use.

Ascend will take the appropriate actions to comply with the applicable rules of the SEC in addition to supporting our customers to reach our common goal to build up a socially and environmentally responsible supply chain.