In our daily production, enterprises are being asked by EU customers to test whether their products contain SVHC and meet the requirements of REACH. However, where all these terms come from, what are the specific requirements, and how to distinguish them, companies are often not particularly clear. In fact, the terms SVHC, REACH authorized substances, and REACH restricted substances are the requirements of REACH regulations specifically to control the use of chemical substances in products.

These requirements can be divided into three categories of substances: SVHC (Substances of Very High Concern), Authorized Substances and Restricted Substances, corresponding to three lists: SVHC List, REACH Appendix 14, REACH Appendix 17.

Let’s focus on SVHC in detail 

▌SVHC definition

SVHC (Substance of Very High Concern) is generally updated in January and July each year. As of October 2021, there are a total of 219 SVHC items.

▌SVHC feature

The criteria in REACH, Article 57 for these SVHC are：

▌SVHC requirements under REACH regulation

1. Notice：If SVHC content in articles produced in the EU or exported to the EU is >0.1% and at the same time meets >1 ton/year, it needs to be notified to ECHA;

2. Notice：If SVHC content in articles produced in the EU or exported to the EU is > 0.1% w/w, it needs to be notified downstream supply chain

As of 5 January 2021, suppliers of articles on the EU market containing Candidate List substances in a concentration above 0.1% weight by weight must notify these articles to ECHA’s SCIP database. This duty comes from the Waste Framework Directive.

With the increasingly strict regulatory control of the EU, especial, clients with relevant products exported to Europe should pay timely attention to the regulations and meet the regulatory test requirements, so as to reduce export risks and successfully complete transaction.