On 27 November 2013 ECHA and the Commission announced that the roadmap for substances of very high concern (SVHCs) was approved by the meeting of the competent authorities for REACH and CLP.
In brief, the roadmap is a three-step process, starting with the screening of substances in the REACH and CLP databases to identify those that are of concern. In particular, five groups of substances are of concern: 1) carcinogens, mutagens or reprotoxins (CMR); 2) respiratory sensitisers; 3) persistent, bioaccumulative or toxic, or very persistent or very bioaccumulative chemicals; 4) endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs); and (5) petroleum or coal streams.
After screening, the second step for the agency it will be to generate and assess further information for the majority of substances.
Finally, risk management option (RMO) analyses will be conducted by member states to decide on the best course of action. ECHA confirmed that RMO is voluntary and not mandated in REACH.
The adoption of the roadmap was followed by a workshop organized for stakeholders by the Commission. The two main issues addressed by the former were communication and transparency. On the other hand, NGOs expressed their concerns that the use of risk management options (RMOs) in the roadmap will mean fewer SVHCs being substituted.
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