Chemicals: EU publishes Restrictions Roadmap

On April 25 2022, the European Commission published the Restrictions Roadmap, which provides information on ongoing work on future restrictions under REACH. The Roadmap represents one of the deliverables of the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, where the European Commission put forward the proposal to extend the so-called generic approach to risk management (i.e. “restricting certain substances in products for certain users while allowing limited exemptions under conditions clearly defined in law”) to the most harmful chemicals in consumer products. The extension of the generic approach to risk management constitutes one of the main elements of the ongoing revision of REACH. While waiting for the REACH revision to be concluded and implemented, the European Commission has proposed to prioritise group substances for restrictions (under REACH) for all uses and through grouping, instead of regulating them one by one. The Restrictions Roadmap thus details, in the annexed Rolling List, which (groups of) substances are currently pointing (or may point) towards the regulatory hypothesis of restriction. Group of substances identified in the Rolling List include, inter alia, PFAs, flame retardants, bisphenols, skin sensitisers, substances in fertilisers, and PVC. Please note that the Rolling List will be regularly reviewed, this means that substances may be removed from or added to the list in the future. For further information, please click here and here.