Decisions of general application

ECHA has issued decisions of general application which potentially affect all companies which fulfil certain objective criteria or describe certain ECHA processes.

The publication of ECHA's decisions of general application aims to help interested citizens and other interested parties have an easier access to the documents relevant to them.

The links to the relevant documents are provided in this page.

 

Regulatory acts

List of substances of very high concern

One of ECHA's tasks is to identify and list substances of very high concern (SVHCs); that is to say, substances which are carcinogenic, mutagenic, toxic to reproduction, persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic, very persistent and bioaccumulative, or that give rise to a similar level of concern.

SVHCs on the list may later be included in Annex XIV to the REACH Regulation, and their use thereby becomes subject to authorisation.

Candidate List of substances of very high concern

 

Procedural measures

Access to documents

EU citizens and non-EU citizens or enterprises with a registered office in the EU can request access to documents from ECHA under the Regulation regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001). This helps to ensure transparency and accountability.

ECHA's Management Board has issued a decision setting out the detailed administrative and procedural rules for the treatment of requests for access to documents (MB/12/2008).


Reviews of rejections of confidentiality claims or requests for the use of alternative chemical names

ECHA publishes information about registered substances on its website. Registrants can request for some of this information to be treated confidentially. If ECHA rejects such a request, registrants can ask ECHA to review the rejection decision.

If the supplier of a mixture considers that the disclosure of a component substance on the label or the safety data sheet might put the confidential nature of its business at risk, it can submit a request to use an alternative chemical name instead. If ECHA rejects such a request, the supplier can request the review of the rejection decision.

ECHA has laid down rules for the review of requests for confidentiality claims in a decision of its Management Board (MB/17/2008), which was later amended to also cover requests for the review of decisions on alternative chemical name requests (MB/17/2011, amending MB/17/2008).


Service and administrative charges

ECHA can levy charges for the services it provides. The relevant charges are set out in a decision of the Management Board (MB/D/29/2010). It includes the administrative charge levied from companies that wrongly claimed to be SMEs to profit from the fee reductions.