European Committee for Standardization

Footwear - Footwear industry guideline for substances of very high concern (Annex XIV of REACH)
 N CEN/TR 16417

Annotation

This Technical Report is intended to provide information on the chemicals listed in the Candidate List / Annex XIV of the Regulation (EC) 1907/2006, also known as REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) and their usage and presence in the footwear industry.

The Annex XIV, overseen by the ECHA (European Chemicals Agency), is a list of substances subject to authorisation, substances of very high concern (SVHC). Before the inclusion of a substance in the Annex XIV, the procedure is strictly fixed:

• A European member state shall propose it to ECHA.

• ECHA inform all the member states and a first enquiry is carried out in order to include the substance to the candidate list of Annex XIV.

• After the agreement of the member's state, ECHA includes the substances in the candidate list to Annex XIV. As soon as a substance has been included in the candidate list, it should be taken into account exactly as a SVHC.

• ECHA prioritises the substances from the Candidate List to determine which ones should be included in the Authorisation List (Annex XIV of REACH) and therefore, subject to authorisation. ECHA regularly submits recommendations to the European Commission, who will decide on the substances to be included in the Authorisation List.

Following the evaluation of the Annex XIV substances, ECHA can take the decision to restrict the substances. This restriction may take the form of an authorisation for use, an authorisation only for specific applications in specified fields or, in some cases, a complete ban on the use of the substance.