A European Union directive will force Apple to cease the sale of certain products in Europe starting next month.

Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment, also referred to as the RoHS directive, was adopted in the European Union in 2003. Starting on July 1, 2006, this directive strictly prohibits the sale of any electronics devices that contain materials such as lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium and brominated flame retardants.

Fortunately Apple has always had an environmentally friendly policy and this directive did not affect them much. "Because of our precautionary approach to substances, Apple was able to meet many of the RoHS restrictions long before the deadline of July 1, 2006," the company said in a statement on its environmental materials Web site.

While most Apple products are in the clear, there are a few that still don't quite comply with all the requirements and will as such be pulled out from sale in Europe. The list of forbidden products is not very long and consists mostly in peripherals such as the iSight, AirPort Base Station With Modem, AirPort Base Station Power Over Ethernet & Antenna, iPod shuffle External Battery Pack and all versions of the eMac.

According to AppleInsider, Apple will not be accepting new orders for these products after June 23 in order to assure that all orders ship prior to the RoHS deadline.

Of course, this does not mean that these products will be removed completely and while they may no longer be available in Europe, the company will probably continue to sell them through their retail channels until existing inventory is exhausted.