Overview
REACH is the EU's master rulebook for chemicals. Companies must know and register which substances they use, and the riskiest ones are tracked, restricted or only allowed with explicit permission.
The name describes the process: Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction. For products, the part that bites is the SVHC Candidate List together with the 0.1%-in-an-article communication duty.
The four pillars
The name tracks the process, and each letter is a stage that tightens control over the riskiest substances.
What matters most for products and articles
For an article maker, one number drives most of the work: 0.1% by weight of a Candidate List SVHC. Once you cross it, a set of obligations follows.
- The SVHC Candidate List is updated about twice a year by ECHA. Browse the full list.
- The authorisation and restriction lists are in REACH Annexes XIV and XVII.
How it relates to other topics
- RoHS restricts a fixed list specifically in electronics. REACH is broader and covers all substances and articles.
- The SCIP database is the waste-side companion to REACH Article 33 reporting.
- The POP regulation handles persistent organic pollutants under a separate, stricter regime.
- CLP hazard classifications are often the trigger that leads a substance onto the Candidate List in the first place.
- The annexes that carry the lists are mapped in Key Annexes.
Note: this is general educational information from the Pareo team, not legal advice. The Candidate List, tonnage thresholds and article-level obligations change over time, so verify against ECHA and the official regulation.