REACH Substance Disclosure Requirements
When must suppliers disclose substances of concern in products under REACH?
Under REACH, the supplier of an article must tell its recipients when the article contains a Candidate List substance (an SVHC meeting the Article 57 criteria and identified under Article 59(1)) at a concentration above 0.1 % weight by weight. The recipient must be given at least the name of the substance. Consumers get the same information on request, free of charge and within 45 days. This is Article 33 [1].
Approach: I read the current consolidated text of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH): Articles 3, 7, 31, 32, 33 and 59.
Article 33: what articles suppliers must communicate
- Who it covers: a "supplier of an article" is any producer or importer of an article, distributor or other actor in the supply chain placing an article on the market. A "recipient of an article" is an industrial or professional user or a distributor; consumers are not recipients [2].
- Business customers (Art. 33(1)): the supplier "shall provide" sufficient information, "available to the supplier", to allow safe use of the article. As a minimum this is the name of the substance. There is no request needed and no tonnage threshold [1].
- Consumers (Art. 33(2)): the same information, "on request", "free of charge, within 45 days of receipt of the request" [1].
- When it starts: the duty is tied to Candidate List identification. ECHA publishes and updates the list "without delay" after it decides to include a substance [3]. Article 33 itself sets no transition period, unlike the Article 7(2) notification below.
Article 7(2): notifying ECHA, which sits alongside Article 33
- Producers and importers of articles "shall notify" ECHA when the Candidate List substance is present in their articles at both more than 1 tonne per producer or importer per year and above 0.1 % w/w [4].
- The notification applies six months after the substance is identified under Article 59(1) (Art. 7(7)).
- It does not apply where exposure of humans or the environment can be excluded under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use, including disposal. In that case the producer or importer must supply appropriate instructions to the recipient (Art. 7(3)).
- It also does not apply where the substance is already registered for that use (Art. 7(6)) [4].
Substances and mixtures: safety data sheets
- SDS always required (Art. 31(1)): for a substance or mixture classified as hazardous under CLP, for a PBT or vPvB substance, or for a substance on the Candidate List for other reasons [5].
- SDS on request (Art. 31(3)): for a mixture that is not classified but contains, for example, a Candidate List substance (or a PBT/vPvB substance) at 0.1 % by weight or more in a non-gaseous mixture [5].
- Timing: the SDS must be provided free of charge "no later than the date on which the substance or mixture is first supplied" (Art. 31(8)).
- Updates (Art. 31(9)): suppliers must update the SDS without delay when new hazard or risk-management information becomes available, or when an authorisation is granted or refused or a restriction is imposed. The revision must go to everyone they supplied in the previous 12 months [6].
- No SDS needed (Art. 32): the supplier must still pass on any authorisation status, restriction details and other risk-management information. The same update duties apply [7].
The separate SCIP notification under the Waste Framework Directive is not a REACH obligation, so I have not covered it here.
How do consumer requests differ from business disclosures?
The difference is how the duty is triggered and how fast it must be met; what must be disclosed is the same. Business recipients must be given the information without asking for it. Consumers get it only "on request", and then "free of charge, within 45 days of receipt of the request". Both routes apply to the same articles (a Candidate List substance above 0.1 % w/w) and require the same minimum content [1].
Approach: I read Article 33 and the Article 3 definitions in the current consolidated text of REACH, Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006.
| Business recipients, Art. 33(1) | Consumers, Art. 33(2) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who | "Recipient of an article": an industrial or professional user, or a distributor, being supplied with an article. The definition "does not include consumers" [8] | Consumers |
| Trigger | Supplying the article. The supplier "shall provide" the information without being asked | Only "on request by a consumer" |
| Deadline | Art. 33(1) sets none | "within 45 days of receipt of the request" |
| Cost | Art. 33(1) says nothing about cost | "free of charge" |
| Articles in scope | An article containing a substance meeting the Article 57 criteria and identified under Article 59(1), above 0.1 % w/w | Same |
| Content | "sufficient information, available to the supplier, to allow safe use of the article including, as a minimum, the name of that substance" | Same wording |
All rows except "Who" come from Article 33 [1].
What this means in practice
- Who owes the duty: the same "supplier of an article" owes both. That covers any producer or importer of an article, distributor or other actor in the supply chain placing an article on the market [8]. A retailer selling to consumers therefore has to answer their requests. It also has to pass the information on when it supplies business customers.
- Content is the same: the information is limited to what is "available to the supplier" in both routes. In both, the name of the substance is the minimum, not the full requirement.
- What is not in Article 33: it does not specify a format for either disclosure, a deadline for business recipients, or whether consumer requests can be refused. I have not added any of these.
How does Scan4Chem help send a request?
Scan4Chem lets a consumer scan an article's barcode to get information on any SVHCs it contains. If no data is held for that article, the app sends the consumer's request to the relevant supplier, who has 45 days to respond. The 45 days matches the Article 33(2) deadline. Scan4Chem is the consumer app of the AskREACH system, an EU initiative funded by the LIFE programme [9].
Approach: I read the AskREACH guidance page from Belgium's FPS Public Health. It is written mainly for suppliers, so it describes the consumer side of the app only briefly.
How a request moves through the system
- The consumer scans the barcode in Scan4Chem.
- The app checks the central AskREACH database. Companies fill this database, and it is available in all participating countries.
- If the supplier has already declared the article, the consumer gets the SVHC information straight away.
- If no data is held, the app sends the request on to the supplier, who has 45 days to respond [9].
What it means for suppliers
- Supplier interface: it is free and works in a browser at suppliers.askreach.eu. Suppliers can register barcodes, declare and update SVHC information for each article, and reply to consumers one by one.
- Repeat requests: once an article is registered, the supplier "no longer need[s] to respond to repeated requests".
- Setting up:
- create an account;
- add a generic email address for SVHC requests to the company profile;
- declare barcodes or a GCP;
- declare articles, either as a barcode range, one at a time, or in bulk from the Excel template.
- Support in Belgium: FPS Public Health and FPS Economy support suppliers. Ecoconso (French) and Bond Beter Leefmilieu (Dutch) answer consumer questions [9].
Legal status
Using AskREACH is voluntary. Article 33 itself is mandatory, and in Belgium the Inspection Service of the Environment DG enforces it. Under Article 17 §1 of the law on product standards (21 December 1998), breaches can bring criminal sanctions: 8 days to 3 years in prison, and fines of €160 to €4,000,000 (increased by additional tenths, currently 8) [9]. Those sanctions are Belgian; other Member States set their own.