Helsinki, 12 January 2017 – The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has added four new SVHCs to the Candidate List – now containing 173 substances, including BPA – based on proposals by France, Sweden, Germany and Austria, following the SVHC identification process with involvement of the Member State Committee.
The European Chemicals Agency is the driving force among regulatory authorities in implementing the EU’s groundbreaking chemicals legislation for the benefit of human health and the environment as well as for innovation and competitiveness. ECHA helps companies to comply with the legislation, advances the safe use of chemicals, provides information on chemicals and addresses chemicals of concern.
The Candidate List is a list of substances that may have serious effects on human health or the environment. Substances on the Candidate List are also known as “substances of very high concern“. The aim of publishing such a list is to inform the general public and industry that these substances are candidates for possible inclusion in the Authorisation List. Once they are on the Authorisation List, industry will need to apply for permission to continue using the substance after the sunset date.
Regarding bisphenol A (BPA) , the reason for inclusion was : “Toxic for reproduction“(Article 57c).
Companies may have legal obligations resulting from the inclusion of the substance in the Candidate List. These obligations may apply to the listed substance on its own, in mixtures or in articles. In particular, any supplier of articles containing a Candidate List substance above a concentration of 0.1% (weight by weight) has communication obligations towards customers down the supply chain and consumers. In addition, importers and producers of articles containing the substance have six months from the date of its inclusion in the Candidate List (12 January 2017) to notify ECHA. Information on these obligations and related tools are available on the ECHA website.