The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), the administration authority for the EU’s REACH chemical legislation, said it is on track to achieve its goal of having all relevant, currently known substances of very high concern (SVHCs) on the Candidate List by 2020. The inclusion of a substance in the Candidate List imposes legal obligations on manufacturers, importers and users.

In its third progress report on the implementation of the SVHC roadmap, which documents progress for the period 2013-2016, the agency said its main focus now is to get more data on other substances of potential concern so that it and member states can judge the hazards and risks they pose. ECHA is currently requesting more information on 540 substances, but noted that identifying substances of potential concern is becoming increasingly difficult because of the lack of information on their hazards and how they are used.

To speed up the process, ECHA and member states have begun to look more at groups of structurally similar chemicals so that conclusions can be drawn on a larger number of substances at the same time.

Since 2013, ECHA said 900 substances of concern have been put forward for further screening, with more than 600 having now been tested. It also noted that best risk management options had been decided for 67 substances of potential concern, with about half of them being listed as SVHCs.