Eurofins Softlines & Leather Monthly Bulletin (June 2022)

EUROPE

New update to Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs)

On 10 June 2022, the ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) released the new Candidate List of SVHCs. With the addition of 1 new substance, the current list of SVHCs now contains 224 substances.

See below a table indicating the latest substance addition:

N-(hydroxymethyl)acrylamide is mostly used in polymers and manufacturing other chemicals, textiles, leather or fur, paints and coatings.

Legal obligations for companies using SVHC substances include:

- Suppliers provide customers and consumers with enough information to allow for safe use of products that contain a substance of very high concern (SVHC) above a concentration of 0.1 % (weight by weight)

- Importers and producers of these products must notify the ECHA if their article contains SVHC substances above a concentration of 0.1% weight by weight (w/w) and the substance is present in those products in quantities totalling over 1 tonne per producer or per importer per year. The notifications have to be submitted within six months from the date it that the substance is included in the list.

- Suppliers of substances on the Candidate List, supplied either on their own or in mixtures, have to provide their customers with a safety data sheet.

- Under the Waste Framework Directive (Directive 2008/98/EC on waste- WFD), any supplier of an article containing a substance of very high concern (SVHC) in a concentration above 0.1% weight by weight (w/w) on the EU market is required to submit a SCIP Notification on that article to ECHA, as of 5 January 2021. SCIP is the database holding information on Substances of Concern in articles, as such or in complex objects (products), established under the WFD. The SCIP database complements the existing notification obligations for Candidate List substances in articles subject to REACH regulation and its related communication through the supply chain, according to Articles 7 (2) and 33 respectively.

Click here to access the official List from ECHA’s website.

Consumer clothing with a UV protection claim: PPE Regulations or not

Since the introduction of the EU’s PPE Regulation 2016/425, there has been considerable debate about whether or not consumer clothing with a UV protection claim should be considered as falling within the scope of the PPE Regulations or not.

The EU’s Expert Group on PPE met in May 2022 and the topic of UV protective clothing was included on their agenda following numerous representations to them for clarification of the situation. The outcome of the meeting was a proposal to differentiate between clothing intended to provide protection against ‘extreme’ UV light and that which is intended to provide protection against non-extreme UV light. The exact definition of what constitutes ‘extreme’ and ‘non-extreme’ UV conditions is yet to be decided although two approaches are being discussed – one based on the UV index of the intended end-use geographic location and another based on the level of UV protection offered by the clothing itself.

The proposal also clarifies the intention that clothing with a UV protective claim but which is intended for private use by a consumer in non-extreme environments should not be considered as PPE.

For more information, visit our summary page here.

Technical publications

Publications related to textile and footwear:

FRANCE

Extended Producer Responsibility and Eco-organization in France

From 1 January 2022, the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) applies to the sector of toys, outdoor games, DIY and garden products, and sports and leisure items in accordance with the AGEC law.

The producer is responsible for the end of life of their waste and must fulfill their regulatory obligations. To do this, there are two possibilities: either join an eco-organization or set up your own system (Article L541-10 of the Environmental Code).

In both cases, the producer has the obligation to:

• Register on the Ademe national register of producers: Syderep,
• Declare every year the total quantities and weight of ASL placed on the French market, and the rate of incorporation of recycled material by equipment,
• Inform the end users of the equipment,
• Fund the collection and processing of equipment, and support repair and reuse
• Ensure collection and processing and promote repair and reuse,
• Transmit the annual collection and processing reports to the public authorities.

Eco-organization approved by the State is available to all producers and marketers in the sector to help them meet their new regulatory obligations: collection and treatment of waste from products placed on the market, codification of products, declaration of eco-contribution, take-back obligations, collection solutions, displays, etc.

Eco-organizations are responsible for the collection and treatment of the waste concerned by the EPR sector to which they are attached, and are remunerated by the marketers.

Below is an overview table with the different eco-organizations present in France.

UK

Update on OPSS Enforcement Policy

On 30 June 2022, the UK Government Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) released its latest enforcement policy guidelines. The updated enforcement policy is broadly consistent with changes made within European Union Member States as a result of EU Regulation 2019/2161 which entered into force on 28 May 2022.

For more information, read the full news on our web page here.

US

FTC hits retailers with large civil penalty for bamboo marketing and deceptive environmental claims

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has recently announced that they will take action against two large national retailers for falsely marketing rayon textile products as bamboo and making deceptive environmental claims that the “bamboo” textiles were made using ecofriendly processes.  The proposed settlement orders would require the companies to stop making false bamboo marketing claims, stop making unsubstantiated green marketing claims, and pay civil penalties totaling $5.5 million dollars.

For more details, please visit FTC’s website here.

TAIWAN

Taiwan designates children’s raincoats as subject to mandatory QR code of commodity inspection mark

Taiwan’s Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) recently published a Public Notice to designate children’s raincoats as products which shall include a QR code for Commodity Inspection Mark. The new requirement will become effective on 15 September 2022. Please see Table 1 below for scope of covered products.

Table 1:

PRODUCT RECALLS / ALERTS

Below you will find a monthly summary of product recalls and alerts in Europe (Source “RAPEX”) and the U.S. (Source “CPSC”).

Europe

RAPEX (European Commission Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products – Alerts reported by EU national authorities).

The following 8 alerts regarding textile & leather products were reported between week 21 and week 24 of 2022.

UK

OPSS issues Product Safety Alerts on the UK market. The following 7 alerts regarding textiles & leather products were reported between week 21 and week 24 of 2022.

U.S.

Between 21 May 2022 and 20 June 2022, the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) published the following recalls: 6 recalls of textile & leather products