On December 17, 2015, ECHA published an update to the “Guidance on requirements for substances in articles”. The guidance document removes all of the interpretation and examples that contradict the September 2015 European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling on the interpretation of article as it relates to calculating SVHC content above 0.1% (w/w).  The removed guidance includes any reference to calculating SVHC content based on the weight of an entire product as imported into the EU.  It now simply refers to “every article” without consideration for products that are manufactured from multiple articles. The following is a relevant excerpt from the new guidance document:

As concerns the obligations to communicate information on substances in articles in general (i.e. communication with recipients and consumers), please note that:

• The substance concentration threshold of 0.1% (w/w) applies to every article supplied. This threshold applies to each article of an object made up of more than one article, which were joined or assembled together;
• There is no tonnage trigger for these obligations (i.e. they also apply below 1 tonne per year);
• The obligations also apply to articles which were produced or imported before the substance was included in the Candidate List and are supplied after the inclusion. Thus, the date of supply of the article is the relevant date;
• The substance name to be communicated is the one appearing on the Candidate List for authorisation.

ECHA plans to provide, in 2016, a more thorough revision of the guidance including new examples that are aligned with the ECJ ruling.

For additional information on developing or assessing a REACH SVHC compliance program, contact ECD Compliance.

The new guidance document is available at http://echa.europa.eu/documents/10162/13632/articles_en.pdf