Business Alert - EU
Business Alert - EU |
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Industry struggles with compliance as PFOS ban set to come into force Directive 2006/122/EC sets out a ban on the use of perfluorooctane sulfonates (commonly referred to as "PFOS") in a number of goods, including electronic goods, textiles or other coated materials. Member States had to adopt and publish implementing legislation no later than 27 December 2007, leading to the ban six months later. Hong Kong traders should thus be warned that, as from 27 June 2008, products covered by the ban must not be placed on the EU market. PFOS compounds have long been utilised in industrial processes and consumer goods. Examples include coatings on textiles, upholstery, paper and leather. PFOS is also used in adhesives and resins applied to a number of products including electrical and electronic equipment. However, the impact of PFOS on the environment has been found to be significant, as the compounds are bioaccumulative and toxic to mammals with exposure leading to a build-up in living tissue. While PFOS was already banned in a large number of consumer goods, their use was still permitted in certain industrial processes as well as in fire extinguisher foams. Other permitted uses which are still allowed include certain metal-plating processes and photographic coatings. In the PFOS Directive, while not all current uses are covered by the ban, the EU is providing for a more complete prohibition (for more details, see also Business Alert-EU issue 23/2006). The ban applies to non-exempt semi-finished products or articles, or parts thereof, if the "concentration of PFOS is equal to or higher than 0.1% by mass calculated by reference to the mass of structurally or microstructurally distinct parts that contain PFOS or for textiles or other coated materials, if the amount of PFOS is equal to or higher than 1 ug/m2 of the coated material". As stated above, a number of exemptions apply and the Directive is intended to only restrict new products and not to apply to products already in use or on the second hand market. In the run up to the PFOS ban entering into force, and as importers and traders struggle to ensure that their products do not contravene the ban, a number of questions have been raised as to how measures will be interpreted in practice. The European Commission has provided non-binding information to Member States to provide clarity on a number of points. Importantly, Hong Kong traders having to comply with the ban will be concerned to know how Member State authorities may interpret definitions of new products, semi-finished products and microstructurally distinct parts, in particular as hefty sanctions may apply for contraventions of the ban, for serious and/or intentional breaches of national implementing legislation. The Commission's information sheds light on some points of interpretation, such as stating that an article will be considered to be "new" until it leaves the supply chain. One of the principal uses of PFOS is in surface coatings. The Commission's information therefore provides that the limit on the concentration of PFOS in coated articles should not be calculated in relation to the entire article, but rather to that part of the article that contains the PFOS. It explains that the term "structurally or microstructurally distinct part" was introduced as a generic way of referring to the part of the article that contains PFOS, and which is intended to avoid uncertainties that might arise by referring simply to articles. Accordingly, Hong Kong traders should note that even if part of a coating which contains PFOS is welded to a surface or another layer of coating, if the layer of coating containing PFOS can be identified when a cross-section of the coated surface is viewed though a microscope, it is likely be considered microstructurally distinct. Thus, the concentration of PFOS must be lower than 0.1% by mass calculated by reference to that microstructurally distinct layer of coating. While certain areas of confusion may remain, traders will be glad to hear that more clarity is forthcoming, with the European Committee for Standardisation, CEN, currently developing a test method to determine levels of PFOS. In the meantime, the rush to ensure that all new products will comply with the PFOS ban continues. Directive 2006/122/EC banning PFOS (but which nonetheless allows for some exemptions) can be accessed via the following link: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:372:0032:0034:EN:PDF | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
