Helsinki, 18 June 2012 - Four have been identified as SVHCs under the precondition that they contain certain carcinogenic constituents above the concentration limit for classifying these substances as carcinogenic. Five of the new SVHCs have been included in the Candidate List following a scrutiny of the comments received during the public consultation and the unanimous agreement of the Member State Committee (MSC). The further eight substances, which did not receive comments challenging the identification as SVHCs during public consultation, were directly added to the Candidate List.

The update of the Candidate List also comprises a consolidation of the entries of aluminosilicate refractory ceramic fibres (Al-RCF) and zirconia aluminosilicate refractory ceramic fibres (ZrAl-RCF) included in the List in January 2010 and December 2011. The scope of the more recent Al-RCF and ZrAl-RCF entries fully covers the earlier ones, which therefore could be consolidated in the entries from December 2011. There is now one entry for Al-RCF and one for ZrAl-RCF. Companies that comply with their obligations to notify substances in articles arising from the entries of 2010 are not required to take further action; their notifications will be assigned by ECHA to the consolidated entries.

The legal obligations that companies may have resulting from the inclusion of substances in the Candidate List apply to the listed substances on their own, in mixtures or in articles. Producers and importers of articles containing any of the 13 substances included in the Candidate List by 18 June 2012 have six months from today to notify ECHA by 17 December 2012, if both of the following conditions apply: (1) the substance is present in those articles in quantities totalling over one tonne per producer or importer per year and (2) the substance is present in those articles above a concentration of 0.1% weight by weight. There are exemptions from the notification obligation if the substance is already registered for the use or when exposure can be excluded. Information on the notification of substances in articles and related submission tools, as well as a manual with instructions on how to create and submit a notification dossier are available on ECHA´s website.

The Candidate List now contains 84 substances. As foreseen by REACH, a specific procedure will be followed to decide whether the substances should also be included in the List of Substances Subject to Authorisation (Annex XIV of the REACH Regulation).