SVHC Services

The REACH Centre offers a comprehensive range of SVHC services designed to help your company comply with the REACH regulations.

The support we offer within our SVHC service covers both tailored advice on compliance issues, testing strategies and supply chain management, and a high quality testing service. These services can be offered separately or as part of a comprehensive package. Our SVHC advisory and testing service is provided in collaboration with Lancaster University's Centre for Chemicals Management, part of Europe's largest environmental research faculty. This enables us to provide a world-class analytical testing service where quality and independence is guaranteed.

Key Points

Communication (article 33 of the REACH regulation)

Any supplier of an article containing a SVHC on the 'Candidate List' in a concentration above 0.1 % (w/w) has the duty to provide the recipient of the article with sufficient information to allow safe use of the article.

Manufacturers and importers supplying products containing SVHCs on the Candidate List also have mandatory requirements to declare SVHCs in products present in concentrations of 0.1% by weight within 45 days of a request for SVHC information by a consumer.

Notification (article 7 of the REACH regulation)

If a SVHC is present above 0.1% (w/w) and its quantities in produced or imported articles are above 1 tonne in total per year, then the company also has the obligation to notify the ECHA.

Authorisation

The candidate list is also the basis for the authorisation process under REACH. Substances included in the candidate list will progressively be put forward for inclusion in the Authorisation List (Annex XIV of the REACH Regulation). On 19th January 2009 ECHA made a first draft recommendation of 7 SVHCs to be included in the list of substances subject to Authorisation (see those highlighted in red on the candidate list)

Substances that will be included in the Authorisation List cannot be manufactured or imported in the EU from a specific date set by the Commission (the ‘sunset date'), except if the companies have obtained an Authorisation for their specific use(s).

What this means for your company

It is clear that the SVHC aspect of REACH potentially affects a very large number of companies, as the definition of "article supplier" includes article producers, importers and distributors, as well as retailers who sell to the general public.

The candidate list will get progressively longer, and ultimately those substances on the list will end up being subject to authorisation. The ultimate aim of authorisation is to ensure that these substances are progressively substituted by alternative substances or technologies. So now is the time to think about assessing your product portfolio and educating your supply chain so that you can start thinking about substitutions.