How the SCIP database works and who must notify ECHA in 2026

How the SCIP database works and who must notify ECHA

The SCIP database is ECHA's database of information on Substances of Concern In articles as such or in complex objects (Products), set up under the EU Waste Framework Directive (ECHA). Since 5 January 2021, an EU supplier of an article with a Candidate List substance of very high concern (SVHC) above 0.1% w/w must send ECHA the Article 33(1) information on that article (WFD Article 9(1)(i)). Retailers and other actors who supply articles directly and only to consumers are exempt (ECHA).

The Commission has proposed ending the duty, but it still applies as of 3 October 2026. Parliament's procedure file records the proposal as awaiting a committee decision.

Where the SCIP duty comes from

The legal basis is Article 9(1)(i) of the Waste Framework Directive, added by Directive (EU) 2018/851. Article 9(2) requires ECHA to maintain the database and give access to waste treatment operators, and to consumers on request (consolidated WFD). The duty binds companies through national law. Member States had to transpose it by 5 July 2020 (Directive 2018/851). Directive (EU) 2025/1892, in force on 16 October 2025, amended Article 9 but left point (i) and paragraph 2 unchanged (Directive 2025/1892).

Who must submit a SCIP notification

SCIP compliance falls on EU producers and assemblers, EU importers, and EU distributors and other actors placing articles on the market (ECHA, suppliers of articles). Retailers and others who supply articles directly and only to consumers are exempt. But a distributor selling to other businesses still notifies.

The trigger is a substance on the Candidate List above 0.1% w/w. There is no tonnage condition. The 1 tonne per year figure belongs only to the separate REACH Article 7(2) notification (REACH consolidated).

An article is an object whose shape, surface or design determines its function more than its chemical composition (REACH Article 3(3)). The 0.1% threshold applies to each article, including articles within a complex product. Assembly does not remove article status if the object retains that defining shape, surface or design. Use the weight of each component that remains an article, not the whole product (CJEU C-106/14).

What goes into a notification

ECHA's suppliers page sets out the data:

• article name, any other names, and a primary article identifier, such as an EAN, GTIN, catalogue or part number
• whether the article is produced or assembled in the EU
• an article category from the TARIC list, based on the Combined Nomenclature
• safe use instructions, and disassembly instructions where relevant
• for complex objects, the components that contain SVHCs and how many times each occurs
• for each Candidate List substance, its identity, concentration range and the material or mixture category it sits in

Optional fields cover things like dimensions and colour. You can group quasi-identical articles in one notification. The full data model is in ECHA's Requirements for SCIP notifications.

How to submit, and what a SCIP number is

You prepare the dossier in IUCLID (IUCLID Cloud through ECHA Cloud Services, or IUCLID 6 offline) and submit it through the ECHA Submission Portal. A system-to-system service also lets companies submit SCIP reports from their own IT systems (ECHA S2S).

After a successful submission you get a SCIP number, an alphanumeric identifier. It stays the same when you update the notification. ECHA does not publish it unless you put it in the identifiers yourself (ECHA, referring to SCIP data).

A Simplified SCIP Notification lets a distributor use an upstream SCIP number without preparing a new IUCLID dossier. Assemblers can use referencing for articles they incorporate into a complex object (ECHA's reuse tools).

The public SCIP database search

ECHA publishes SCIP data as received, and anyone can search it on the SCIP database page under "Articles notified". New notifications may take time to show up in the public search.

ECHA's programming document for 2026-2028 says it will begin scaling down related SCIP activities from 2026. A staff move in Q4 2026 may bring delays, slower system performance and limited user support (ECHA SPD 2026-2028), so allow extra time for helpdesk answers.

Article 33 and the SVHC declaration behind SCIP

SCIP reuses the Article 33(1) information, but the supply-chain duty stays separate. Under REACH Article 33(1), a supplier of an article with a Candidate List substance above 0.1% w/w must give the recipient enough information to allow safe use, "including, as a minimum, the name of that substance". Recipients are industrial or professional users and distributors, not consumers. Under Article 33(2), a consumer who asks gets the same information free of charge within 45 days.

For an SVHC declaration, give the substance name and the available information needed for safe use. A SCIP number alone does not supply the minimum information required by Article 33(1). Article 33 only applies above 0.1% w/w, so it sets no duty to issue a "no SVHC" statement below that. The Article 33 duty starts the day a substance joins the Candidate List, with no transition period (Irish HSA).

Don't confuse either duty with the REACH Article 7(2) notification. It applies when the substance is above 0.1% w/w and totals over 1 tonne per producer or importer per year. It starts six months after listing and uses REACH-IT. You are exempt if exposure can be excluded, or if the substance is already registered for that use (REACH Article 7; HSA).

SCIP in the UK

Great Britain has no SCIP duty. The GB waste regulations kept the "promote the reduction" wording of Article 9(1)(i) but left out the ECHA reporting clause (SI 2020/904; SSI 2020/314). Northern Ireland's regulations omit it as well (NISR 2020/285).

Article 33 still applies across the UK. EU REACH continues to apply in Northern Ireland (HSE). In Great Britain, UK REACH Article 33 has the same wording and works against the UK REACH Candidate List kept by HSE (UK REACH Art. 33).

Is SCIP being abolished?

Not yet. On 10 December 2025 the Commission's environmental omnibus, COM(2025) 986, proposed limiting the supplier duty to the period "from 5 January 2021 until" the new directive enters into force. ECHA would keep the data already reported (Commission proposal). The Council's mandate of 25 June 2026 also ends that submission duty, and says the database "in its current form is not fulfilling its intended objectives" (Council ST 11112/26).

Parliament has not voted. The file is awaiting a committee decision, with an indicative first-reading plenary date of 23 November 2026 (OEIL 2025/0394(COD)).

Keep notifying under the current law. Before stopping, check the final act's end date and how it applies under your national law.

RegAffairs AI's SCIP and Article 33 answer links the EU sources for this question.