This part of IEC 62321 provides strategies of sampling along with the mechanical preparation of samples from electrotechnical products. These samples can be used for analytical testing to determine the levels of certain substances as described in the test methods in other parts of IEC 62321. Restrictions for substances will vary between geographic regions and may be updated on a regular basis. This document describes a generic process for obtaining and preparing samples prior to the determination of any substance which are under concern. This document does not provide: full guidance on each and every product that could be classified as electrotechnical product. Since there is a huge variety of electrotechnical parts, with various structures and compositions, along with the continuous innovations in the industry, it is unrealistic to attempt to provide procedures for the disjointment of every type of part; guidance regarding other routes to gather additional information on certain substances in a product, although the information collected has relevance to the sampling strategies in this document; safe disassembly and mechanical disjointment instructions related to electrotechnical products (e.g. mercury-containing switches) and the recycling industry (e.g. how to handle CRTs or the safe removal of batteries). See IEC 62554 [1] for the disjointment and mechanical sample preparation of mercury-containing fluorescent lamps; sampling procedures for packaging and packaging materials; analytical procedures to measure the levels of certain substances. This is covered by other standards (for example other parts of IEC 62321), which are referred to as the "test standard" in this document; guidelines for assessment of compliance.