Deciding on Allowed Substances

The European Chemical Agency (ECHA) prioritizes substancers based on the available information on intrinsic properties, uses and volumes of the substances on the EU market for the so called Candidate List. It regularly recommends to the European Commission substances from the Candidate List for inclusion in the Authorization List (Annex XIV of REACH). Substances that qualify for consideration in the Authorization List are known as Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC). They may not be used in the EU, unless a company and their registered users have been authorized to do so.

Anyone can comment on the proposed recommendation by using the web forms available on ECHA’s website. In particular, comments may address uses which should be exempted from the authorisation requirement. The public consultation lasts for three months.

ECHA takes into account the comments for updating the draft recommendation. The comments will help the Member State Committee to draft its opinion on it.