The Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals REACH

8th UKFT Briefing Note

The Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals [REACH]

This briefing note is part of a series on REACH to ensure members are kept informed and up to date with the implications of this legislation on all the apparel and textile industry sectors. The previous briefing notes were issued between May 2006 and March 2012 and can be viewed on the UKFT website at or obtained directly from the UKFT office.

The purpose of this note is to update the UKFT Restricted Chemical List Version 1 (see 7th UKFT Briefing Note on REACH) in order to include those substances included in Annex XVII of REACH that have implications for the textile supply chain and to highlight differences in control between substances on Annex XVII and the Candidate List.

Prior to the introduction of REACH, substances of high concern (both individual and groups of chemicals) were controlled by the Restrictions on the Marketing and Use of certain Dangerous Substances and Preparations Directive (76/769/EEC plus numerous adaptations and amendments). The control measures for each substance were specific to the substance, i.e. “substance X shall not be placed on the market or used in concentrations equal to or greater than 0.1%”. This approach did lead to the phasing out in Europe of many of these dangerous substances.

However, the Marketing and Use Directive was repealed in June 2009, as the restrictions from this Directive were included in Annex XVII of REACH. Additions and amendments have been made to Annex XVII since that time and the latest version can be viewed at

The entries in Annex XVII continue to prohibit the use of certain substances in certain articles and go on to prohibit the placing on the market of the articles that contain the substances. This is, of course, applicable only to marketing and use in Europe.

The substances and groups of substances contained in Annex XVII and relevant to the textile supply chain, and the corresponding restrictions on them, are shown in Section 2 of the attached UKFT Restricted Chemicals List Version 2. The presence of these substances on imported articles (fabrics, garments and textiles) does not currently have any legal limitations. Only when a particular substance is entered on to the Candidate List from Annex XVII do the REACH controls on substances of very high concern (SVHCs) become appropriate. This has already happened with three phthalates, as detailed in the attached Version 2 list.

The controls on SVHCs, which need to be considered separately from the restrictions on Annex XVII, have been covered previously in the 4th, 6th and 7th Briefing Notes. In summary the duties of a producer, importer or supplier of an article containing an SVHC (i.e. listed on the Candidate List) in a concentration above 0.1% w/w are to pass information to the user to allow the article to be used safely, pass information to the consumer if requested and a duty to inform the relevant Authority when the article contains more than 0.1% of an SVHC and the substance is present in quantities of more than 1 tonne per year. However, whilst the incorporation of a substance into an article within the EU may be subject to authorisation, the importation of a finished article containing such a substance as an integral part is not.

It should be noted that all the Annex XVII substances are already on many retailer, industry, performance standard and NGO restricted chemical/chemicals of concern lists and consequently action to remove them from the supply chain is already in hand.

For any other queries and/or comments on the information given please contact Mr Adam Mansell at UKFT ()

June 2012