Substances of very high concern identification

Substances that may have serious and often irreversible effects on human health and the environment can be identified as Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC). If a substance is identified as SVHC, it will be added to the Candidate List for eventual inclusion in the Authorisation List.

On 31 August 2015, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) published seven potential SVHC candidates (see below table). After preparing dossiers for the substances, the ECHA has now invited interested parties to a public consultation in which they can provide comments within a timeframe of 45 days (until 15 October 2015).

ECJ Judgment regarding REACH

Decision of the Court of Justice of the EU regarding the duty of notification of SVHC in articles / sub-assemblies

The interpretation of Art.7 Clause 2 and of Art. 33 of the regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 (REACH regulation) lead to a conflict between the ECHA and some of the EU member states. The EU court of Justice delivered a ruling on 10th of September and judgment of the Court will bring this conflict to an end.

According to the Court the interpretation of the German BAuA and a few more member states on how to calculate the content of SVHCs in an article or its sub-assemblies became accepted.