REACH & the Issue of Chemical Substances Present

in Apparel/Garments

Compliance Obligation on Exporters

Dr. Rashmi Naidu
Sr. General Manager (Technical Services)
REACH Support, INDIA
http://www.reach-support.com
About REACH Support
Most sought after, one of its kind helpdesk in India
Clientele spread across Asia, Europe and growing steadily to other
places
Caters to over 800 companies presently
Entire basket of REACH compliance services offered
Providing Assessment & Certification services to various article
exporters
Professionals comprise of experts who have been following REACH
regulation since the draft stages
Contents
REACH in a nutshell
Articles within REACH
REACH Accessories and Embellishments
Is packaging an article?
SVHC & Restricted Substances (Annex XVII of the REACH regulation)
REACH requirement for substances in article
Notification obligation & Notification deadlines
Communication Obligation
How to calculate the SVHC thresholds within REACH
Importance of supply chain communication
REACH In a nutshell
REACH - Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of
Chemicals

This regulation requires information to be submitted to the European
chemical agency (ECHA) on the properties of chemicals (exported as
such) as well as chemicals contained in articles

For exporters of chemicals, the major compliance process is
REGISTRATION
For exporters of articles, the compliance process is NOTIFICATION
(though not in each case)
Articles within REACH
Definition
an object which during production is given a special shape, surface or design
which determines its function to a greater degree than its chemical
composition
Apparel/garments are considered as articles within REACH as they come in
various shapes & design imparting various functionalities
REACH - Accessories & Embellishments
Accessories include a variety of articles like Buttons, Zippers & Zippers
Sliders, Rivets, Buckles, Beads, Cuff Links, etc




Embellishments include Flat metal embellishments, hand beaded brooch,
rhinestone embellishment, crystal brad, etc






If accessories and embellishments are exported as such to Europe, they
will be treated individually as articles
Accordingly other REACH obligations also have to be complied with

Is PACKAGING an article? YES
The apparel can be packaged in cardboard boxes, plastic bags, paper, etc.

Packaging is considered as a separate article within REACH

Exporters also have obligation to check for SVHC and restricted chemicals
in packaging

Important to check the chemical used like paints, etc used to mark the
packaging

If an SVHC is present, the obligations for the packaging would be the same
as for the apparel

However, if the packaging ends up as waste in Europe, no separate
obligation exists for the packaging

Substances of very high concern (SVHC)
What are SVHC
Substances of very high concern are:

PBT substances
vPvB substances
CMR category 1, 2 substances

Substances of equivalent concern (having endocrine
disrupting properties)

In a nutshell, substances very toxic to the human health and
environment shall be categorized as SVHC
SVHC & Restricted Substances (Annex XVII) of REACH
ECHA has finalized 53 SVHC till date
The complete list can be found at
www.reach-or.com /www.apparel-reach.com/www.echa.europa.eu

Annex XVII (52 substances & in some cases category of substances
(Phthalates, PAHs, CMR substances in Annex I of EC/67/548)

Restrictions on the Manufacture, Placing on the Market and Use of
Certain Dangerous Substances, Preparations and Articles
Name & category of chemicals
Conditions of Restriction

Annex XVII entry into effect from June 2009
REACH Requirements for Substances in Article
There are essentially three requirements

1. Pre-registration & Registration of chemical released intentionally
from the article during normal or foreseeable conditions of use
provided:
Release is intentional (e.g. perfume from the shirts)
Intentional release Deliberate and contributes to an added value of
the article
Chemical (which is released) is present in greater than one ton* in
the export consignment (per annum)
The substance has not been registered for that use

Examples of intentional release from apparel

Socks Antibacterial chemical released upon contact with body to avoid
smelly socks

Perfumed Shirts Fragrance chemicals added to provide freshness

Inner wear Softners added specially in baby inner wear to avoid rashes to the
delicate skin

Pre-registration/registration seem highly unlikely for the majority of the
apparel exporters, except for similar cases as above.
REACH Requirements for Substances in Article
(Contd..)
2. Notification of SVHC if:
SVHC is greater than 0.1% wt by wt (1000 ppm) and tonnage of SVHC
exceeds 1 ton per annum in the annual exports of apparel to Europe
3. Communication of SVHC if:
SVHC is greater than 0.1% wt by wt (1000 ppm) in article but less than
1 ton per annum

Apparel exporters need to confirm Notification or Communication
obligations based upon a technical assessment of the chemical used
in their entire production chain
Notification Requirements to the ECHA

The information to be notified includes the following:

The identity and contact details of the producer of article
The registration number (s) for the SVHC, if available
The identity of the SVHC (s) like name of the substance, CAS, EINECS
No, etc
The classification of the SVHC, which will be available from the
Agency
A brief description of the use (s) of the SVHC in the article and of the
uses of the article (s)
The tonnage range of the SVHC, i.e. 1-10 tonnes, 10-100 tonnes etc.


Notification Deadlines
For substances included in the SVHC list before 1 December 2010,
the notifications have to be submitted not later than 1 June 2011
If Notification applies but has not been done, it is mandatory to
complete the Notification before exporting article to avoid
penalties

For substances included in the SVHC list on or after 1 December
2010, the notifications have to be submitted no later than 6 months
after the inclusion in candidate list
Communication Requirements to the ECHA

The recipient of the article with sufficient information to allow safe
use of the article including, as a minimum, the name of the
substance

Only for SVHC on the Candidate List
No tonnage limit (i.e. also applies below 1 ton/year)

REACH Article 33(2)
Consumers can request the same information. The information
should be provided within 45 days, free of charge.

How to calculate the SVHC thresholds (EXAMPLE)
Intentional Release

Consider a baby innerwear containing chemical lotion

Wt of 1 inner wear 100 gm
Wt of chemical in this inner wear 10 gm
Amount of chemical that shall be intentionally released 06 gm
Inner wear pieces exported to Europe (1 calendar year) 10,000
Total wt of the annual export 10,00,000 gm
(1000 kg)
Total quantity that shall be intentionally released 60 kg

Intentional release quantity less than 1000 kg or 1 ton.

Thus NO PRE-REGISTRATION & REGISTRATION obligation of the exporter of
this innerwear

How to calculate the SVHC thresholds (EXAMPLE)
No Intentional release but SVHC present

Consider a ladies top containing Cobalt dichloride, an SVHC used as mordant
dye

Wt of 1 ladies top 300 gm
Wt of chemical in this ladies top 20 gm
%wt/wt 6.66%wt/wt
Ladies top exported to Europe (1 calendar year) 10,000 pieces
Total wt of the annual export 30,00,000 gm
(3000 kg)
Total quantity of chemical in the annual export 200 kg

Thus NO NOTIFICATION obligation (since total quantity is less than 1 ton per
annum)
but obligation of COMMUNICATION since %wt/wt exceeds 0.1% (6.6%)

Some restricted substances in textile

Tris (2,3 dibromopropyl) phosphate (CAS No 126-72-7) - Shall not be used in
textile articles, such as garments, undergarments and linen, intended to come
into contact with the skin.

Tris(aziridinyl)phosphinoxide (CAS No 5455-55-1) - Shall not be used in textile
articles, such as garments, undergarments and linen, intended to come into
contact with the skin.

Nickel (CAS No 7440-02-0) and its compounds - rivet buttons, tighteners, rivets,
zippers and metal marks, when these are used in garments

Azocolourants - above 30 ppm in the finished articles clothing, bedding, towels
and nappies

REACH - Accessories & Embellishments
Accessories include a variety of articles like Buttons, Zippers & Zippers
Sliders, Rivets, Buckles, Beads, Cuff Links, etc




Embellishments include Flat metal embellishments, hand beaded brooch,
rhinestone embellishment, crystal brad, etc






If accessories and embellishments are exported as such to Europe, they
will be treated individually as articles
Accordingly other REACH obligations also have to be complied with

Importance of supply chain communication

If the entire production chain is in-house, get the supply chain inventorized for
all chemical inputs

If certain operations like dyeing/printing are outsourced, ask for the details of
the chemicals used in these operations and make a note of the same

For the accessories and embellishments used in the apparel, ask the suppliers
for the raw materials used in their production

If the suppliers cite confidentiality as the reason for not sharing the details,
share with them the SVHC list & request them to give you an undertaking that
none of the SVHC is used

PLEASE REMEMBER It is very important to get the entire supply chain
scanned for the chemicals used during production of the export article
(finished and packed apparel)



Contact Details
For details, please visit
http://www.reach-support.com
http://www.reach-or.com
http://www.reach-onlyrep.eu
http://www.apparel-reach.com
For answers to queries, please write to
rashmi@reach-support.com / advisor@reach-support.com