France and Sweden: Proposed Restriction on over 1000x Substances in Clothing and Footwear
If your business manufactures leather and textiles destined for the clothing and footwear sector, you need to be aware of a significant proposal to restrict over 1000x chemicals in these materials.
France and Sweden have jointly put forward a proposal to restrict levels of over 1000x substances used in the manufacturer of leather and textile clothing and shoes; Any substance classified as a skin-sensitiser under the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) regulations is included. Whilst only roughly 100x of the named substances are currently used in leather or textile processing, it is thought that this blanket ban will prevent future use of harmful chemicals in these industries.
This restriction will be discussed by European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), and if accepted the restrictions will come into force in 2023 as an additional entry to Annex XVII of REACH. It will then become the responsibility of brands, retailers and manufacturers to provide assurance of compliance through chemical testing of leather and textile products that are imported, distributed, manufactured or retailed within the European Union.
The report for the proposal submitted by France and Sweden can be found on the ECHA website: https://echa.europa.eu/documents/10162/0ad87251-336a-2f81-ebc9-43059742d888
Does your business currently conduct REACH testing?
Any materials and products entering or circulating within the European Union need to comply with the Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemical Substances, which is more commonly known as REACH legislation (publication number EC1907/2006). REACH is designed to reduce the use of chemicals within materials that may have harmful effects such as skin-sensitisers, reprotoxins, irritants and carcinogens.
REACH testing provides your customers with assurance of chemical compliance. At Eurofins | BLC, we can help your business to comply through our range of REACH testing services:
- Annex XVII testing to determine the legal compliance under Annex XVII of REACH
- Smart Annex XVII testing to risk assess products and advise which restrictions under Annex XVII are applicable, thereby conducting targeted testing
- SVHC screening and testing to provide assurance of levels of substances of very high concern within products
It is also possible for our UK-based laboratory to test composite materials under REACH.
Eurofins | BLC Members can benefit from advanced regulatory support for REACH and other international regulations, in addition to discounted chemical testing, product fault diagnosis and chemical compliance training.
Discuss your chemical testing needs today
Talk to one of our chemical and regulatory experts today to discuss your testing needs. Email [email protected], call +44 (0)1604 679 999 or complete the web contact form at the bottom of this page.
15 May 2019