REACH requirements for component suppliers and equipment manufacturers
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economic benefits outweigh the risks arising from the use of such substances. To this end
all manufacturers, importers and downstream users applying for authorisations are
required to analyse the availability of alternatives, consider their risks, and the technical
and economic feasibility of substitution (Article 55).
The process that ECHA follows to create the Candidate List of substances, from which the
priority list requiring authorization will be drawn, is set out in Article 59 and discussed in
section 7. The first Candidate List contains 15 SVHC substances and was published in
October 2008. More substances will be added to the Candidate List periodically by
Member States, the European Commission and ECHA.
Between January and April 2009, ECHA will publicly consult on the deadline date by which
applications for authorisation to use these priority substances must be received, and any
uses which should be permanently exempted from authorisation. The final details on
deadline dates for authorisation applications and any permanent exemptions for specific
uses will be agreed by the European Commission and recorded in Annex XIV of REACH.
Once the final details have been published in Annex XIV, companies who wish to continue
to use the substances (in a use not covered by a permanent exemption) will need to apply
for an authorisation for that use, regardless of the quantity of the substance used. The
authorisation process will start from late 2009 and all applications must be received by the
deadline dates specified in Annex XIV. Companies should, of course, check whether an
upstream user has already submitted an application that would cover their use. The
application must include an analysis of alternatives and where suitable alternatives are
available, timescales for substitution plans.
The European Commission will grant an authorisation if the applicant can demonstrate that
the risk from the use of the substance is adequately controlled. Each authorisation will be
subject to a time-limited review, which will be set on a case-by-case basis in accordance
with Article 61. Similar to exemptions under the RoHS Directive, authorisations may be
amended or withdrawn as a result of the review. In addition, authorisations can be
amended or withdrawn at any time when new information on possible substitutes becomes
available or the circumstances in the original authorisation have changed so as to affect
the risk to human health or the environment, or the social-economic impact.
As noted by the ENDS report
4
, the cost and inconvenience of the conditions expected to
be placed on authorized substances are likely to deter all but the most essential or
profitable applications.
Starting from October 2008 when the first Candidate List was published, REACH places a
legal obligation on all EU component suppliers to inform manufacturers further down the
supply chain whether their components contain any of the Candidate List substances in
concentrations > 0.1% weight by weight (w/w) of the component. This enables the
manufacturers to make early strategic decisions on whether to design-out components
which contain these substances. Most manufacturers will choose to phase out Candidate
List substances from their equipment for the following reasons:
• For uses not covered by a permanent exemption in Annex XIV, the continued
manufacturing of components in the EU which contain priority substances drawn from
the Candidate List will depend on whether an authorisation is issued by the European
Commission. There is no guarantee that the Commission will issue an authorisation.
4
ENDS Report 402, July 2008