trade-e-bility News Archive

01/29/2021

REACH – EU project finds harmful substances in sports articles

The EU project AskREACH raises awareness of so-called “substances of very high concern” (SVHCs) in products amongst the general public, trade and industry circles throughout Europe. According to the German Federal Environment Agency, sports articles were tested for harmful substances via the project. 82 samples from 13 European countries were tested for SVHCs. These include some plasticizers, flame retardants, heavy metals and alkylphenols, amongst others. Products such as gymnastic balls, yoga mats, dumbbells, skipping ropes, swimming equipment, water bottles and gymnastic shoes were tested. Our recommendation: Obtain an overview of the chemical ingredients of your products in good time.

01/22/2021

Children’s masks must be free of toxic chemicals

Children also want to be protected in corona times. Poorly fitting FFP2 or medical masks often provide worse protection than specially adapted fabric masks (referred to as community masks). For masks made of textiles, however, care should be taken to avoid exposure to toxic chemicals; this applies in particular to children. Just last December, aniline was found in the dye of a community mask at a well-known drugstore chain. Anilin is considered carcinogenic and poses a great danger, especially to children. Our recommendation: The relevant safety standards should be observed in the manufacture of children’s masks and documented accordingly.

01/19/2021

Compliant sale of FFP2 masks

The “FFP2” label alone is not sufficient. In addition to the four-digit CE mark, the manufacturer’s address and all the contents required by the EN 149 standard must likewise be listed. Moreover, importers of FFP2 masks must ensure that there is adequate documentation for masks and that further information is provided in the instructions for use and on the packaging. trade-e-bility supports importers in compiling the documentation and in complying with the statutory requirements for product labelling.

01/15/2021

SCIP – more than five million notifications already received

The ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) reports that companies have already submitted more than five million notifications for inclusion in the database. The ECHA will start publishing the data on its website in the coming months, and this feature will be further developed. If you have Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs) with a concentration above 0.1 mg/kg per material in your products, you are required to report this since 5 January 2021 by entering the concentrations, the components and the test documents in the new SCIP database. In Germany, at present there is only an informal obligation to report to the ECHA pursuant to Section 16f of the Chemicals Act (ChemG), which does not include the obligation to actually use the SCIP database. It remains to be seen how long this German path can be maintained. If you wish to set up your business in a future-proof way or sell your products to other EU countries, you will probably not be able to avoid using the SCIP database.

01/15/2021

EPREL – Energy labels must be replaced by 18 March 2021

In the first two weeks of March (1 – 18 March 2021), retailers must replace labels for mains operated refrigerators with direct sales function, mains operated refrigerators between 10 and 1500 litres in volume, mains operated household dishwashers, television sets, monitors, certain signage displays, washing machines and washer-dryers. This concerns both the products in shops and products offered on the Internet. Before that, only old energy labels may be shown, and afterwards only new ones. Missing labels must be requested from the relevant suppliers. If there is no new label, then the equipment affected must be sold off by 1 December 2021. Please bear in mind that the new labels must have corresponding test reports that must be placed in the EPREL database. If these are lacking, then new labelling is not possible. Preparing a test report is time-consuming, so please act promptly.

12/17/2020

SCIP: As of 5 January 2021 articles containing SVHC must be reported

If you have Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs) with a concentration above 0.1 g/kg per material in your products, you are required to report this as of 5 January 2021 by entering the concentrations, the components and the test documents in the new SCIP database. In Germany, at present there is only an informal obligation to report to the ECHA, the European Chemicals Agency, pursuant to Section 16f of the Chemicals Act (ChemG), which does not include the obligation to actually use the SCIP database. It remains to be seen how long this German path can be maintained. If you wish to set up your business in a future-proof way or sell your products to other EU countries, you will probably not be able to avoid using the SCIP database.

12/09/2020

SCIP database already contains 50,000 notifications

As reported by our partner VFI/German Importers, the SCIP database already contains more than 50,000 notifications one month after activation. Seven per cent of attempted registrations in the database are reported to have been unsuccessful due to the validation rules. These included e.g. multiple filings of a product by the same company or attempted registrations of companies outside the European Union.

12/07/2020

SCIP – public authorities can see that your products contain SVHCs

Are your products SVHC-free? You will only know this once you have valid test documents in hand. However, many products can already be seen to contain SVHCs. The new transparency of the publicly accessible SCIP database is a real invitation to establish whether such products are on record in the database. Both market participants and regulatory authorities can give you cause for concern when you take this path.

12/01/2020

SCIP: Please note: from 5 January 2021, articles containing SVHC must be reported

As already reported in April, according to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), the notification of articles containing SVHCs is mandatory from 5 January 2021, following the amendment to EU Directive 2018/851. SVHC stands for “Substances of Very High Concern”. All articles containing more than 0.1% by mass of SVHC substances are subject to mandatory notification. Many other electrical and electronic equipment may also be affected, as heavy metal compounds and flame retardants are also included in the SVHC list. For purposes of specifying the EU SCIP (Substances of Concern in articles as such or in complex objects (Products)) database has now been completed. Entry of SVHC substances is mandatory as of 5 January 2021. Please make timely preparations for such mandatory notification so that you or your suppliers have sufficient lead time until 5 January 2021.

11/19/2020

EMC/Electromagnetic compatibility: Please note that standards have been updated

On 3 November 2020, the EU Commission updated the standards harmonised under the EMC Directive 2014/30/EU. New extensions to standards now apply in particular to industrial, scientific and medical equipment, household appliances, power tools and similar instruments, electrical lighting equipment and similar electrical appliances and similar electronic, multimedia and switchgear equipment. Manufacturers, importers and authorised representatives relating to the aforementioned devices must therefore check whether the test reports on which the market conformity of their products is based have lost their validity.

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