At the end of the six-month comment period on the draft restrictions on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which closed on 25 September 2023, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced that it had received over 5,600 comments from more than 4,400 contributors.
Published on the ECHA website on 7 February 2023, the restriction proposal prepared by the authorities of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden aims to reduce emissions of PFAS into the environment and concerns about 10,000 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances).
Large participation
The consultation on this project, which opened on 22 March 2023, has just closed, and ECHA has indicated that it received more than 5,600 comments from over 4,000 organisations, mainly companies (58.7%), individuals (27.3%) and professional associations (9.8%).
Among the biggest contributors are Sweden (1,369 comments, a particularly high figure, ECHA points out, due to a national campaign calling on individuals to take part in the consultation), Germany (1,298 comments) and Japan (938). France (172 comments) came eighth.
Next steps
The comments will now be checked by ECHA’s scientific committees for Risk Assessment (RAC) and Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC), and those providing relevant evidence-based information will be considered in the opinion making process.
ECHA points out that the five countries who prepared the initial proposal will also review the consultation input and may update their initial proposal based on it.
Once the RAC and the SEAC have assessed the proposed restrictions, ECHA will forward their opinions, which …
