Information from the VECCO Board of Directors on the state of affairs in the EU bodies regarding the authorization and restriction of chromium VI

Some of our members have been asked by their customers/end customers about the current status of the approval and/or restriction of chromium VI.

Dear members,

Some of our members have been asked by their customers/end customers about the current status of the approval and/or restriction of chromium VI. We can provide you with a report on the current status in the EU committees, but please note that all findings obtained to date and the conclusions we have drawn from them can only be presented in the subjunctive.

The application for authorisation submitted by us (HAPOC) in spring 2016 was recommended for authorisation by the

ECHA to the EU Commission. No decision has been made on this application to date, and the use of chromium VI remains possible until a final decision is made.

After the application submitted by a consortium (CTAC) was approved by the EU Commission, the EU Parliament voted that this approval was not justified. The Parliament referred this approval to the ECJ, which ruled that this approval is not legally binding.

The ECJ has instructed the Commission to submit a new proposal by April 2024. The Commission has allowed this deadline to pass and, in accordance with Article 56(1)(d) of the REACH Regulation, companies that have notified this application may continue to use the substance until a decision on the application is made. Any additional conditions that may have been defined may also be lifted. The ECHA's recommendation on this application is expected at the end of 2024 at the earliest.

Due to these developments and the very large number of authorisation applications that the system can no longer handle, the Commission has asked the ECHA to submit a proposal to remove the authorisation requirement from Agenda XIV and instead introduce a restriction under Agenda XVII of the REACh Regulation. To this end, ECHA conducted a ‘call for evidence’ in Helsinki in January/February 2024. We informed our members about this in a webinar and asked them to participate.

ECHA is satisfied with the first round, but has now identified further chromium VI compounds for restriction, resulting in another call for evidence, which will run from 5 June to 15 August 2024.

The questionnaire is aimed exclusively at suppliers of alternative technologies or companies that have already successfully substituted chromium. There is no mention of reports on failed substitution attempts, nor is there any instrument for verifying thesestatements.

This measure is intended to provide as broad a picture as possible of the applications of Cr VI in Europe, but in our opinion, another important component is missing. The opinions of end users, such as large OEMs, and their assessment of the range of applications for chromium and the possibilities of alternatives to meet product requirements.

If the ECHA and the EU Commission agree to a change from authorisation to restriction, we believe that this will mean that those companies that comply with occupational health and safety and environmental protection within the specified framework and whose product requirements cannot be fully met by alternatives or where the economic conditions do not allow for substitution will not be restricted in their use.

Attached is the link to the English version of the VECCO board's report

board of directors

VECCO e.V.