Do you know about REACH – BP-A?
We would like to take this opportunity to give you some information on the subject of REACh and in particular the article 33 of the REACh regulation.
The regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACh Regulation) is an EU Chemicals ordinance which came into effect in June 2007. REACh stands for Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals, for example for the registration, evaluation, approval and restriction of chemicals. As an EU regulation, REACh is equally and directly applicable in all Member States. REACh is a fundamental harmonization and simplification of existing chemicals legislation. The REACh system is based on the principle of self-responsibility of the industry. According to the "no data, no market" principle, only chemical substances which have been registered before are allowed to be placed on the market within the scope of application.
On the basis of the above mentioned regulation, all suppliers are legally obliged to inform their customers of substances that are found on the "SVHC list" published by ECHA (European Chemical Agency). This list is continually revised and a variety of new substances are added here.
The lastest update in January 2017 included a chemical called
BPA, CAS No. 80-07-5 4,4'-(propane-2,2-diyl)diphenol
which can be used in our thermal direct products. The chemical BPA is used in thermal direct papers to stabilize the thermosensitive coating.
In general, products with BPA can continue to be used in Europe. Products with these substances continue to comply with the REACh regulation, as long as the information on SVHC components is taken into account. We are therefore obliged to inform our customers about the use of SVHC substances. An overview of our products which contain an SVHC component can be found under the following link
http://label.averydennison.eu/en/home/solutions/certificates/reach.html
http://jujothermal.com/products
In collaboration with its suppliers BMLE intends in the near future to exchange BPA from the affected products.
Your duty of disclosure as distributor under REACh:
If you receive such a consumer request, you are legally obligated to communicate free of charge within 45 days, which is a particularly worrying substance of the candidate list (in a concentration of more than 0.1% by weight) contained in the corresponding product. The competent authorities of the countries shall monitor the fulfillment of the obligation to provide information and shall comply with infringements. Some products are also analyzed by chemical analysis for their content of substances in the candidate list. According to an EUGH judgement, it must also be informed if the mass concentration of an SVHC chemical is less than 0.1% when upgrading a product (EUGH 10.09.2015 Az. C-106/14).
Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact your BMLE representative.
Please note: At the same time of the ECHA publication the EU has issued a directive (2016/2235/EU) which provides a limit of 200 ppm for the BPA in thermal papers from 2020 onwards. There is a danger of confusing both topics.
