The 6-month consultation on the restriction proposal, prepared by the Danish, German, Dutch, Norwegian and Swedish authorities, opened on March 22, 2023, and closes on September 25, 2023. The consultation is to give anyone with information on PFAS the opportunity to have their say. Of particular interest is information relevant to the risks, socio-economic aspects and alternative substances.
Interested parties are invited to send in scientific and technical information on the manufacture, placing on the market and use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) by September 25, 2023. ECHA’s scientific committees for Risk Assessment (RAC) and for Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC) will use the consultation input to evaluate the proposed restriction and form an opinion on it.
An online information session will be held on April 5, 2023, from 11:00 to 13:00 EET (GMT+3). During the session, experts from the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), Helsinki/Finland, and the 5 national authorities will explain the restriction process, the content of the proposal and how to participate in the consultation. They will also respond to questions from the participants.
The session will be held in English and can be viewed directly from ECHA’s homepage without registration. Questions can be sent to the expert panel in advance of the session through
this link.
The 5 national authorities submitted the universal proposal to restrict PFAS to ECHA on January 13, 2023. The European Commission, together with the EU Member States, will eventually decide on the potential restriction based on the proposal and the committees’ opinion.
A separate 60-day consultation of SEAC’s draft opinion concerning ECHA’s proposal to ban the placing on the market, use and formulation of all PFAS in firefighting foams is open from March 15 until May 15, 2023. Information concerning firefighting foams should be submitted in this consultation.