Term · Policy, Trade & Geopolitics
Materials declaration
A supplier's statement of the substances contained in a part, down to declarable substances and their amounts, given to customers so they can show compliance with rules such as RoHS and REACH and report to their own customers.
- Also known as
- Material declaration, Full materials declaration
- Type
- Term
- Domain
- Policy, Trade & Geopolitics, Environmental compliance
Overview
A materials declaration is a supplier's structured statement of the materials and chemical substances contained in a product, such as a packaged chip, given to customers so that they can show compliance with substance laws such as RoHS and REACH and report onward to their own customers. It can range from a simple yes or no answer about restricted substances to a full breakdown of every substance, by mass, in each homogeneous material of the part. Materials declarations are usually exchanged electronically in standard formats rather than as free-form documents.
How it works
For a semiconductor package, the declaration breaks the part into its homogeneous materials: the silicon die, die attach, bond wires, lead frame or substrate, plating, mould compound and solder balls. For each material it gives the substances present, their CAS numbers and their mass or concentration, together with statements about legal thresholds and any exemptions claimed, such as the RoHS exemptions for lead in certain high-melting-point solders.
The electronics industry commonly uses the IPC-1752 format, revision B published in June 2020, which defines four declaration classes. Class A answers standard compliance queries; Class B reports material categories; Class C reports substance categories at product level where they exceed thresholds; and Class D gives full substance composition at the homogeneous material level, including subparts. The data is exchanged as XML files so that customers' compliance systems can read them automatically. The automotive industry instead uses the International Material Data System (IMDS), a shared database in which suppliers enter material data sheets that vehicle makers use to meet their legal obligations.
Declarations depend on data from many tiers of suppliers, from mould compound makers to plating houses, so they are only as accurate as that chain. They must be updated when a material, a supplier or the list of regulated substances changes, and customers often request a new declaration with every product change notice.
Examples
- A microcontroller supplier publishing an IPC-1752 Class D XML file for each package, listing every substance in the die, wires, mould compound and plating.
- A tier 1 automotive supplier requiring IMDS material data sheets for a power MOSFET before approving it.
- A customer asking for an updated declaration after a supplier changes the mould compound in a QFN package.
- A distributor answering a customer's RoHS and REACH query with the manufacturer's Class A declaration.
Why it matters
Product environmental compliance managers, component engineers and customer quality engineers at chip companies prepare and maintain declarations for thousands of part numbers, and customers' compliance teams depend on them. A missing or wrong declaration can block a design win, stop shipments into a regulated market or force costly retesting, and automotive customers will not release parts without complete IMDS data.
In the chip lifecycle, materials choices are made during package development, declarations are produced at qualification and production release, and they are revised whenever materials, suppliers or regulations change through production and up to end of life.
It matters most to: Component Engineer, Customer Quality Engineer, Product Compliance Engineer, Product Environmental Compliance Manager, Semiconductors, Supply Chain Compliance Specialist (Responsible Minerals and ESG)
Common confusions
- Not the same as a declaration of conformity
- A declaration of conformity is a formal legal statement that a product meets specific laws, signed by the maker. A materials declaration reports what the product contains so that compliance can be checked.
- Not the same as a conflict minerals report
- A conflict minerals report traces where tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold were sourced. A materials declaration states which substances are present and how much, not where they came from.
- Not the same as a safety data sheet
- A safety data sheet describes the hazards of a chemical product for handling and transport. Finished articles such as chips are described by materials declarations instead.
Related standards
- IEC 62474 (material declaration for products of the electrotechnical industry)
Sources
- IPC-1752B: Materials Declaration Management (table of contents and scope, June 2020) (opens in a new tab), IPC (Global Electronics Association), 2026-10-22
- IMDS: International Material Data System (opens in a new tab), International Material Data System (IMDS), 2026-10-22
- IEC 62474:2018+AMD1:2020 CSV: Material declaration for products of and for the electrotechnical industry (opens in a new tab), IEC Webstore, 2026-10-22
- Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (Wikipedia) (opens in a new tab), Wikimedia Foundation, 2026-10-22
Related terms
Part of the Policy, Trade & Geopolitics glossary, with every term in the topic and the lifecycles, tools and standards that use them.
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Lifecycle stages and gates
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Last reviewed . Written by The Semiconductor Hub editorial team. The full glossary