We hereby inform you that the list of substances of very high concern under the European REACH Regulation, shared by the Directorate General for International Agreements and the European Union of the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Turkey, has been updated.
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced on 5 November 2025 that a new substance has been added to the Candidate List as a substance of very high concern (SVHC). In this context, the addition of the substance ‘1,1'- (ethane-1,2-diyl)bis[pentabromobenzene] (DBDPE)’ to the list has been approved. Known to have high bioaccumulation potential, this substance is used as a flame retardant in various sectors. While there are currently 251 substances on the ECHA Candidate List, the total number of chemicals affected is higher as some are chemical groups. It has been explained that products on the Candidate List may subsequently be transferred to the Authorisation List, and substances on the Authorisation List may be used after companies apply for authorisation and receive approval from the European Commission. The statement further explained that, under the REACH Regulation, if an article contains more than 0.1% by weight of a Candidate List substance, the relevant company/suppliers are obliged to provide information to customers and consumers on the safe use of this substance. Companies manufacturing or importing an article containing a substance included in the Candidate List must notify ECHA within six months of the substance being included in the list; EU and EEA suppliers placing the substances concerned on the market, either on their own or in mixtures, are obliged to update the safety data sheets they provide to their customers; Under the Waste Framework Directive, companies are required to notify ECHA if SVHC substances are present in their products at a concentration above 0.1%, and these notifications are published in the ECHA hazardous substances database; finally, it was shared that products containing SVHCs cannot obtain eco-labelling under the EU Ecolabel Regulation.
It was announced that ECHA's consultation process on the draft opinion of the Socio-Economic Analysis Committee (SEAC) regarding the restriction proposal for ‘Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances’ (PFAS) is expected to commence immediately after the Committee's expected agreement in March 2026. The consultation process in question will include general questions on all the different aspects addressed in the SEAC draft opinion, as well as detailed questions for each of the sector-based assessments carried out by the Committee. To help stakeholders determine which sectoral assessment their areas of use fall under, a mapping of relevant sectors has been published. The announcement stated that the SEAC consultation process on the draft opinion on PFAS restrictions includes specific questions for 14 sectors and PFAS production. It is stated that SEAC has currently reached provisional agreement in 13 sectors, with agreement on the electronics and semiconductor sector and PFAS production expected in December 2025, after which an updated version of the use map will be published.
The hazard classes determined by ECHA for the following five substances have been opened for public consultation, and comments can be submitted via the link below for 60 days.
- 1-methylimidazole
- 2,4,6-tris(dimethylaminomethyl)phenol
- flutolanil (ISO); N-[3-(propan-2-yloxy)phenyl]-2-(trifluoromethyl)benzamide; α,α,α-trifluoro-3′-isopropoxy-o-toluanilide
- imidazole hydrobromide
- propaquizafop (ISO); 2-[(isopropylideneamino)oxy]ethyl(2R)-2-{4-[(6-chloroquinoxalin-2-yl) oxy]phenoxy}propanoate
Links:
SVHC Candidate List: https://echa.europa.eu/fr/-/echa-adds-one-hazardous-chemical-to-the-candidate-list-2
SEAC Draft Opinion: https://echa.europa.eu/documents/10162/111425157/draft_use_mapping_pfas_en.pdf/7e36c9e4-6d41-ee24-e8e6-f2f2f6a1483d#msdynmkt_trackingcontext=a24deb3b-e4e1-43e0-83ee-d4259b770200
Public Consultation: https://echa.europa.eu/fr/harmonised-classification-and-labelling-consultation