What is the SVHC candidate list, and how is it updated?

A Substance of Very High Concern is one that meets the criteria in Article 57 of REACH: carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction (CMR), persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT), very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB), or of equivalent concern (e.g. endocrine disruptors). Once identified, it is added to the candidate list, which currently contains more than 240 entries and grows at every update cycle.

ECHA publishes updates in January and June. A substance moves onto the candidate list through an Annex XV dossier prepared by a Member State or ECHA, followed by a 45-day public consultation and a decision by the Member State Committee. Once on the list, it is a candidate for inclusion in Annex XIV (the authorisation list), which is the next escalation.

• Article 33: if an article contains an SVHC above 0.1% weight by weight, you must communicate that to recipients (B2B always, consumers on request within 45 days).
• Article 7(2): notify ECHA if you produce or import articles containing an SVHC above 0.1% w/w and the total tonnage exceeds one tonne per year.
• SDS update: Safety Data Sheets must be re-issued to reflect the new classification.
• SCIP database: articles containing SVHCs above 0.1% w/w placed on the EU market must be notified to the ECHA SCIP database.

The UK SVHC list started identical to the EU list at the point of Brexit and is slowly diverging. UK additions go through the HSE and the Environment Agency on a separate timeline. Substances can be added to one list and not the other; running both regimes in parallel is the practical reality for any business selling into GB and the EU.

Every January and June update forces the same scramble: cross-check the new substances against thousands of raw materials and SKUs, identify which customers hold articles above 0.1% w/w, redraft Article 33 statements, refile SCIP entries and re-issue SDSs. Done in spreadsheets and shared inboxes, the work is slow, easy to miss and impossible to audit.

REACH compliance software replaces that scramble with one substance master tagged against the live EU and UK SVHC lists. The day ECHA publishes an update, the affected raw materials, SKUs, customers and open declarations surface in one view, and Willow drafts the Article 33 communications, SCIP submissions and SDS revisions for the regulatory team to review.

• Live SVHC candidate list monitoring across EU and UK REACH
• Article 33 disclosure generation tied to the article bill of materials
• SCIP database submission with audit trail
• Automatic SDS re-issue when a classification changes
• Customer-level declaration tracking with read receipts