Candidate List

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The Candidate List is a list of substances that have been identified as Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs).

It may be necessary for SVHCs to be subject to stringent controls in order to protect human health and the environment. The inclusion of a substance on the Candidate List is an early step in this process. It indicates that a substance is a candidate for inclusion in Annex XIV to REACH, known as the Authorisation List. You can find out more about the process on our Authorisation webpage.

The official Candidate List is published on the ECHA website for EU REACH, and on the HSE website for UK REACH.

REACHReady guidance

• New REACHReady’s SVHC Guide, a brief guidance document which illustrates how to look up information on SVHCs, including reasons for inclusion and registered uses.

Your obligations

EU/EEA companies supplying a Candidate List substance, whether on its own, in a mixture or present in an article, may have legal obligations under EU REACH, and likewise, GB compnaies may have legal obligationns under UK REACH. Some of these duties apply as soon as the substance is included in the Candidate List.

To help you understand what you need to do we have summarised the obligations below:

• Substances on their own/substaces in mixtures

Suppliers of substances on the Candidate List (supplied either on their own or in mixtures) have to provide their customers with a safety data sheet, as per Article 31 requirements. This obligation is unlikely to be new, as the majority of Candidate Listed substances are classified as hazardous to human health and/or the environment. Section 15 of pre-existing safety data sheets should be updated to reflect the identification of the substance as an SVHC.

If the mixture is not hazardous according to CLP, suppliers must provide the recipients, at their request, with a safety data sheet if: the mixture contains at least one substance with an individual concentration in the mixture ≥ 0.1% w/w for non-gaseous mixtures; and that substance is on the Candidate List under either Articles 57(d) PBT, (e) vPvB or (f) substance raising an equivalent level of concern.

Note. A Safety Data Sheet must also be provided at the request of the recipient where a mixture is not classified as hazardous but contains a substance present at a concentration of 1% or more for non-gaseous mixtures (0.2% by volume for gaseous mixtures) that poses a health hazard or other environmental hazard.

• Substances in articles

From the date of inclusion on the Candidate List: provide the recipient with sufficient information available to the supplier to allow safe use of the article, which must include, as a minimum, the substance name, where the substance is present above 0.1% by weight. There is no prescribed format for this information; you may decide to provide it by means of a label, technical datasheet, letter, or email. You may also include the information on your website, but a website listing alone is not sufficient.

Within six months of the date of inclusion on the Candidate List: notify ECHA where the quantity of the substance totals 1 tonne or more per year per EEA importer or producer and is present above 0.1% by weight in those articles.

Notification is not required where the substance has already been registered for the particular use or where exposure can be excluded throughout the lifecycle of the article, including disposal.

More information on the obligation for suppliers of articles can be found on our dedicated Substances in Articles webpage.

You can call our Helpdesk number on +44 (0) 20 7901 1444. Or e-mail us on enquiries@reachready.co.uk.