Companies have a lot to improve on reporting harmful substances in their products
The ECHA Enforcement Forum pilot project revealed shortcomings in the notification of SVHCs in their products.
Good news about the pilot project is the fact that only 12% of the products examined contained SVHCs. In contrast, 88% of companies whose products were found to contain SVHCs failed to comply with their reporting obligations.
The Enforcement project comprised nearly 700 articles, more than 400 companies, in 15 different EU countries. The focus was on industries whose products are most likely to contain harmful substances. The checked products included clothing, footwear and home textiles; wires, cables and electronic accessories; plastic or textile floorings; wall coverings; and other plastic and rubber products.
Head of the ECHA’s Support and Enforcement Unit, Erwin Annys said that “The report clearly shows a failure of communication in the supply chain and improvement is needed if we want to make REACH work in all aspects.”
The ECHA Secretariat and the Forum will further analyse the results from this enforcement project and the recommendations included in the Forum’s final report, and consider further actions that could improve the situation.
