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Switzerland Aligns Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) with the EU

SafeGuardSAutomotive, Hardgoods, Hardgoods, Hardgoods, Hardgoods, Softlines, Softlines, Softlines, Personal and Protective EquipmentDecember 07, 2021

Switzerland is planning to update its Chemicals Ordinance with the eight SVHCs most recently added to the EU’s Candidate List. These will enter into force on February 1, 2022.

In October 2021, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) announced that eight substances of very high concern (SVHC) added to the EU’s Candidate List will be added to its Candidate List of SVHCs under Annex 3 to the Ordinance on Protection against Dangerous Substances and Preparations (SR 813.11, Chemicals Ordinance, in French, German or Italian). This update expands the number of SVHCs on the Candidate List from 2011 to 2019 and further aligns with those in the European Union (EU). 

According to Article 71 in the Swiss Chemicals Ordinance ‘Articles Containing SVHCs,’ suppliers of an article containing an SVHC on the Candidate List in a concentration of more than 0.1% are obliged to provide the professional user or distributor of the article with sufficient information, available to the supplier, to allow the safe use of the article including, as a minimum the name of the substance.

The aforementioned equivalent information is obliged to be supplied to consumers (general public) free of charge within 45 days of the request (similar to Article 33 of REACH, consolidated version to October 2021).

The Notice on ‘Duty to Inform about Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) in Articles’ can be found on the Switzerland Notification Authority for Chemicals’ website (in French, German or Italian)

Highlights of the eight SVHCs are summarized in Table 1 – the classification and potential applications of these substances can be found in SafeGuardS 91/21 and the reference therein.

Federal Office of Public Health, October 26, 2021
Adaptation of Annex 3 ‘Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern’ to the Chemicals Ordinance

Item

Candidate List SVHC

Date of Entry into Force

1

Phenol, alkylation products (mainly in para position) with C12-rich branched alkyl chains from oligomerization, covering any individual isomers and/or combinations thereof (PDDP)

February 1, 
2022

2

Orthoboric acid, sodium salt

3

Medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (MCCP) 
[UVCB substances consisting of more than or equal to 80% linear chloroalkanes with carbon chain lengths within the range from C14 to C17]

4

Glutaral

5

4,4 '-(1-methylpropylidene) bisphenol

6

2-(4-tert-butylbenzyl) propionaldehyde and its individual stereoisomers

7

2,2-bis (bromomethyl) propane1,3-diol (BMP)
2,2-dimethylpropan-1-ol, tribromo derivative / 3-bromo-2,2-bis (bromomethyl) -1-propanol (TBNPA)
2,3-dibromo-1-propanol (2,3-DBPA)

8

1,4-dioxane

Table 1

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