ECHA Identifies 20 Chemicals as Potential Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs)
On August 29, 2011, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) published a notice proposing to add 20 new chemicals to the Candidate List under the Registration Evaluation of Authorization Chemical Substances (REACH) regulations. These substances are believed to meet the REACH criteria of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC). Many were identified due to their suspected carcinogenicity. Some were identified as toxic to reproduction.
There are two stages for substances that are added to the Candidate List of SVHCs. Once ECHA makes a final decision to add the substance to the Candidate List, manufacturers of preparations or articles containing the substance must provide notice to the downstream user regarding the presence of the substance.
Secondly, substances on the Candidate List are then considered for authorization under Article 57 of REACH. Should the European Commission agree that the Candidate List substance should be subject to authorization, then the substance will be prohibited from manufacturing in (and importing into) the European Union (EU) after a specified sunset date, unless it is authorized by ECHA. Since the authorization process under Article 57 is very restrictive, many manufacturers will end up reformulating their materials or redesigning their articles to substitute out the targeted substance.
If you are a U.S. manufacturer of the substance or the manufacturer of an article containing these proposed substances and you export into the EU, you will need to review the information provided by ECHA regarding the 20 proposed substances at http://echa.europa.eu/news/pr/201108/pr_11_20_svhc_consultation_20110829_en.asp.
Comments—or consultation as it is referred to by ECHA—can be submitted for 45 days from August 29, 2011.
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