According to Article 33 of the REACH Regulation¹, information requirements regarding “candidate substances” or SVHCs (substances of very high concern) in articles must be fulfilled. Unless they are restricted or prohibited by product-specific regulations, communication about the presence of these substances — whether in the supply chain or through notification in the SCIP database — and substitution (where possible), are central parts of the material compliance process for many market participants. However, what is far less well known is that SVHCs play a role in more than just “classic” product-related material compliance.

The question of the presence of candidate substances is now also relevant from a different angle. In recent years, SVHCs have found their way into numerous corporate and sustainability compliance regulations, such as the reporting requirements under CSRD² together with the ESRS (European Sustainability Reporting Standards), as well as the EU Taxonomy³.