EU REACH

REACH

REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) Regulation (EC)No 1907/2006 is a European Union chemical regulatory framework that entered into force on 1 June 2007. REACH is based on the belief that industry itself should be responsible for ensuring that the chemicals it manufactures and puts on the market in the EU do not adversely affect the health of the workers exposed to them through the employment, the users who come into contact with them, or the environment. REACH will also simplify the control of chemicals in the European market place and replaces a large number of other directives with a single system of registration, evaluation and authorization.

SVHC

The European Chemical Agency (ECHA) has included 15 substances of very high concern (SVHC) in the 'Candidate List' which was published on the ECHA website on October, 2008. By December, 2010, there were total of 46 substances published in the list. Those SVHC might have the following characteristic(s):

• Carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction (CMR)
• Persistent Bioaccumulative and Toxic (PBT)
• very Persistent, very Bioaccumulative (vPvB)
• Proven to be seriously harmful to the human body or to the environment, and the hazardous level is the same as those of the previous stated substances (e.g. Endocrine Disrupters)

Please visit http://echa.europa.eu/ for the latest Candidate List under "ECHA CHEM".

Article 33 Duty to communicate information on substances in articles

According to Article 33 of REACH, the manufacturer has the obligation to provide sufficient information to the consumer/recipient of the article if Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) of candidate list are contained in its products in a concentration above 0.1% weight by weight (w/w).

The below mentioned SVHC may be contained in the listed articles in a concentration above 0.1% weight by weight.