Substances in Articles

Home  > REACH > SVHCs > Substance in articles

The term “substances in articles” refers to substances inherent in, or incorporated into, articles. Examples of substances in articles in this sense include dyes in textiles and the chemical composition of a laptop.

For information on what REACH means for containers of chemicals such as drums of solvent, bottles of shampoo and cans of paint, please see our webpages on Registration and Supply chain/uses.

What is an article?

According to Article 3(3) of REACH, an article is defined as “an object which during production is given a special shape, surface or design which determines its function to a greater degree than its chemical composition”.

In the case of multi-component, or complex, articles comprising more than one part - for example, cars, aircraft and consumer electronics - the European Court of Justice upheld the Opinion of the Advocate-General in Case C-106/14. Its Judgement, dated 10 September 2015, is based on the “once an article, always an article” premise, i.e. that assembly does not mean that component parts cease to be articles in their own right. The Court therefore ruled that each of the articles incorporated as a component of a complex product is covered by the relevant duties to notify and provide information when they contain an SVHC above 0.1% by weight.

Candidate List obligations

When a substance is included in the Candidate List of Substances of Very High concern it can trigger obligations for EU suppliers of articles as well as substances and mixtures.

Article 33: communication

Where an article contains more than 0.1% by weight of a Candidate List substance its EU supplier must provide such information to their business clients. This disclosure must include as a minimum the name of the SVHC. It must also allow the recipient to use the item safely. The obligation applies whether the recipient is a paying customer or is receiving the item free of charge.

In the case of complex articles, REACHReady’s interpretation is that the disclosure obligation applies at both the component level and to the product as a whole.

In the case of supply to the general public the consumer is entitled to the same information by request. Commonly known as the “right to know” or the “45-day rule”, the supplier must provide the information within 45 days of receiving the consumer’s request.

Article 7 (2): notification to ECHA

In addition to Article 33 disclosure to customers, importers and producers of articles in the EU may have a duty to notify to ECHA the presence of an SVHC in those goods. The notification must be submitted within six months of the substance being added to the Candidate List. Again, a 0.1% weight threshold applies, but in addition the quantity of the SVHC present above 0.1% in those articles needs to be 1 tonne or more per year.

The ECJ’s Ruling of 10 September 2015 states that “Article 7(2) … must be interpreted as meaning that … it is for the producer to determine whether a substance of very high concern … is present in a concentration above 0.1% weight by weight of any article it produces and, for the importer of a product made up of more than one article, to determine for each article whether such a substance is present in a concentration above 0.1% weight by weight of that article”.

The Ruling therefore clarifies that a complex article producer’s notification duty does not extend to the component articles which were produced by a third party (i.e. upstream supplier).

Exemptions from the notification duty

Even if a producer or importer has both more than 0.1% by weight of an SVHC present and the total is 1 tonne or more per year there are two situations where notification may not be required:

If the substance has already been registered for the particular use.

Note that the registration need not be in the same supply chain as the producer or importer of the article.

Exposure can be excluded throughout the lifecycle of the article, including disposal.

For more information please see our guidance on Notifying Candidate List substances in articles below, which is available exclusively for our Gold subscribers.

In some cases ECHA may request registration of a notified Candidate List substance. For more information on registration please see our dedicated Registration webpages.