The Candidate List of SVHC updated to 209 substances
On June 25, 2020, four new substances were added to the SVHC Candidate List by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), and hence 209 substances are included in the list now. The added substances are 1-vinylimidazole, 2-methylimidazole, dibutylbis(pentane-2,4-dionato-O,O')tin and butyl 4-hydroxybenzoate. Resorcinol in the previous consultation list is not identified as a SVHC as ECHA's Member State Committee (MSC) did not come to an agreement, and the European Commission's REACH Committee will take the final decision. SGS recommends enterprises to review relevant substances in products to ensure compliance.
EU notified WTO of two RoHS exemptions
On July 7, 2020, the European Commission submitted notifications G/TBT/N/EU/725 and G/TBT/N/EU/726 to the WTO proposing to revise Annex III and Annex IV of RoHS Directive. Adding entry 45 to Annex III, refers to lead diazide, lead styphnate, lead dipicramate, orange lead (lead tetroxide), lead dioxide in electric and electronic initiators of explosives for civil (professional) use and barium chromate in long time pyrotechnic delay charges of electric initiators of explosives for civil (professional) use, which applies to category 11 with an exemption period of five years; Updating the expiry date of entry 42 in Annex IV until June 30, 2026, the other contents of this entry remain unchanged. According to the notifications, the two exemptions are proposed to come into effect on the twentieth day following that of their publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The final report of EU RoHS consultation project Pack 19 has been published
Recently, the EU RoHS consultation agency has published the final report on exemption requests of Pack 19, proposed to amend entry 12 of Annex IV of RoHS Directive on 'lead and cadmium in metallic bonds creating superconducting magnetic circuits in MRI, SQUID, NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) or FTMS (Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometer) detectors'. The stakeholders agreed entry 12 should be amended as 'Lead in metallic bonds creating superconducting electric circuits in SQUID detectors'. In case exemption 11 is not renewed, or if the Commission does not agree to shift NMR and MRI devices into the scope of exemption 11, the entry 12 should be amended as ‘Lead in metallic bonds creating superconducting electric circuits in MRI and NMR, and in SQUID detectors.’ The available information suggests that neither substitution nor elimination of lead in applications in the scope of exemption 12 are foreseeable in the near future, the report suggested a validity of seven years for the future exemption 12.
TPCH plans to revise the control requirements of hazardous substances in packagings
Established in 1992, TPCH (Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse) is mainly responsible for promoting the 'Model Toxics in Packaging Legislation' to all States in the US. The current TPCH Model Legislation prohibits the intentional use of cadmium, lead, mercury, and hexavalent chromium in any finished package or packaging component, while the total concentration of the four heavy metals is limited up to 100 ppm. On July 9, 2020, TPCH released the draft 'Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse Model Legislation Update 2020'. plans to add perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and phthalates bans for all packaging, PFAS should not be detected and phthalates may be present up to 100 ppm incidental presence, the control requirements of PFAS and phthalates come into effective 2 years after enactment. In addition, the draft legislation also revised relevant definitions, exemptions, criteria for evaluating new toxic chemicals and processes to phase out new toxic chemicals. The consultation period of this draft ends on August 24, 2020, and the Act shall become effective immediately upon adoption.
Major EU enforcement project to target restrictions on chemicals in consumer products
Recently, the Forum for Exchange of Information on Enforcement (Forum) held the 35th plenary meeting and agreed that its major enforcement project planned for 2022 (REF-10) will focus on integrated checks of products that control several duties from different pieces of legislation. The enforcement would mainly focus on articles, but might also check on mixtures, while most of the products are expected to be consumer products. The enforcement will check that the products comply with restrictions for selected hazardous substances under REACH and POPs regulation, the specific substances to be covered by these checks will be decided in 2021 and could potentially include phthalates or PFOS. REACH duties for substances in articles - whether respective SVHC information is being communicated in the supply chain, is also part of the target checking in the enforcement project. The enforcement will check specific types of material such as rubber, plastic or textiles, thus would include several control requirements under REACH and POPs regulation. The enforcement project mentioned above will be prepared in 2021, with inspections conducted in 2022 and the report is expected to be issued by the end of 2023.