Policy paper

Approach to including substances of very high concern on the UK REACH candidate list

Published 9 December 2021

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

The candidate list is a list of substances of very high concern (SVHC) that can be prioritised for inclusion on the authorisation list. Once a substance is added to the authorisation list, it may not be used after the specified ‘sunset date’ unless the Secretary of State has granted a business-specific authorisation for that use.

When UK REACH came into force, all substances that were on the EU REACH candidate list were carried over onto the UK REACH candidate list. The UK REACH work programme for 2021-22 committed to assess those substances that have been added to the EU REACH candidate list since UK REACH came into force, to consider if it was appropriate to add them to the UK REACH candidate list.

1. Interim principles for the candidate list

To aid this assessment, Defra and the Welsh and Scottish Governments have agreed interim principles for including SVHCs on the candidate list in UK REACH:

1. Including SVHCs on the candidate list should be used to encourage substitution away from particularly hazardous substances.
2. A substance should not be proposed for inclusion on the candidate list unless it is a good candidate for the authorisation list.
3. Regulatory Management Options Analysis (RMOA), informed by calls for evidence, should be used to determine if inclusion on the candidate list is the correct route.

These are interim principles. We will keep them under review as we continue to consider future UK REACH policy.

2. Assessment of EU REACH candidate list pipeline

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), with the Environment Agency (EA), used these principles to assess the substances that have been added to the EU REACH candidate list since UK REACH came into force. HSE and EA identified four substance groups as priorities for further assessment via Regulatory Management Options Analysis (RMOA):

• dioctyltin dilaurate, stannane, dioctyl-, bis(coco acyloxy) derivatives, and any other stannane, dioctyl-, bis(fatty acyloxy) derivatives wherein C12 is the predominant carbon number of the fatty acyloxy moiety
• 1,4-dioxane
• small brominated alkylated alcohols (SBAA)
• phenol, alkylation products (mainly in para position) with C12-rich branched or linear alkyl chains from oligomerisation, covering any individual isomers and/or combinations thereof (PDDP)

These RMOAs will recommend the most appropriate route for managing any identified risks from these substances. This may include these substances being added to the candidate list, but HSE and EA may make other recommendations.

A summary of HSE’s initial assessment, including its reasons for prioritising these four substances will soon be published on the HSE website. HSE will continue to keep the substances that were not prioritised for further assessment at this time under review. In some cases, other measures, such as occupational health and safety legislation, are already in place or underway to manage the identified risk.

3. Inclusion on the UK REACH candidate list

The Defra Secretary of State, Welsh ministers, Scottish ministers and HSE can put a substance forward for inclusion on the candidate list. They can do so if they consider it fulfils one or more of the technical, hazard-based criteria to be considered an SVHC. HSE will then prepare a dossier on, and consult on, the proposed addition to the candidate list. The final decision on whether to add a substance to the candidate list is made by HSE (with the EA advising on environmental matters).