ETRMA joins call to delay chemical substances database

BRUSSELS—The European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers' Association is among a coalition of 40 industry organizations urging the European Commission to delay the implementation of a substances of concern in products (SCIP) database.

In a Sept. 21 letter to EC president Ursula von der Leyen, the signatories representing much of the European economy requested "urgent resolution of implementation issues" in the database drawn up by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

The SCIP database, which is set to go into effect in early 2021, is intended to support the development of a "circular economy" in the EU, as required by article 9.1 of the bloc's updated "waste framework directive."

However, the industry groups maintain that ECHA failed to finalize the database development to the required timescale of January 2020.

This, said the letter, prevented companies from developing, testing and adapting their own systems to meet the January 2021 notification deadline.

While "serious concerns regarding the workability, proportionality and value of the SCIP database" have been raised during the last two years, these have not been resolved by the European Commission or by ECHA.

As a result, the letter asked the EC president take immediate action to:

• Postpone the SCIP notification deadline of Jan. 5 2021 by at least 12 months after the database will be finalized;
• Conduct a study on the usefulness, feasibility, proportionality and impact of the database; and
• Instruct the ECHA to adapt the SCIP database according to the outcome of such study.

Signatories to the letter also include the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, European Association of Automotive Suppliers, European Federation of Catering Equipment for Manufacturing and European Material Handling Federation.