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Document 32020R0784

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/784 of 8 April 2020 amending Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the listing of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds (Text with EEA relevance)

C/2020/1973

OJ L 188I, 15.6.2020, p. 1–3 (BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, HR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)

Legal status of the document In force

ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2020/784/oj

15.6.2020   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

LI 188/1

COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2020/784

of 8 April 2020

amending Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the listing of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on persistent organic pollutants (1), and in particular Article 15(1) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 implements the commitments of the Union under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2) (‘the Convention’) and under the Protocol to the 1979 Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Persistent Organic Pollutants (3) (‘the Protocol’).

(2)

Annex A to the Convention (‘Elimination’) contains a list of chemicals for which each Party to the Convention is required to prohibit and/or take the legal and administrative measures necessary to eliminate their production, use, import and export.

(3)

The Conference of the Parties to the Convention has, pursuant to Article 8(9) of the Convention, decided in its ninth meeting to amend Annex A to the Convention in order to include perfluorooctanoic acid (‘PFOA’), its salts and PFOA-related compounds in that Annex. That amendment contains various specific exemptions.

(4)

Part A of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021, which contains a list of the substances listed in the Convention and in the Protocol as well as substances listed only in the Convention, should therefore also be amended to include PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds.

(5)

PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds are listed in Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4), subject to certain derogations. Those derogations were assessed by the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (‘POPRC’) with the result that not all of them were recommended to the Conference of the Parties. Consequently, the decision adopted by the Conference of the Parties (SC-9/12) contains some but not all derogations previously granted under Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006. Considering that the POPRC assessment was based on more recent information and considering Council Decision (EU) 2019/639 (5), it is appropriate to allow in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 only those specific exemptions that are granted under the Convention and needed in the Union.

(6)

The Conference of the Parties to the Convention decided in its ninth meeting on a specific exemption that is not included in Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006. It concerns the use of perfluoroctyl bromide containing perfluorooctyl iodide for the purpose of producing pharmaceutical products. Considering that information on this use was not available at the time of the listing of PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds in Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 and considering the subsequent assessment by the European Chemicals Agency (6), it is considered appropriate to include that specific exemption in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021.

(7)

In order to reinforce the application and enforcement in the Union of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1021, a limit value should be set for PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds occurring as an unintentional trace contaminant in substances, mixtures and articles. That limit value should be set at 0,025 mg/kg for PFOA including its salts, and at 1 mg/kg for the individual PFOA-related compounds or a combination of those compounds. For applications where those concentration limits cannot currently be met, higher concentration limits should be established, subject to review by the Commission within 2 years with a view to lowering the limits.

(8)

Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(9)

Considering that some derogations previously granted in the restriction on PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds in Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 are still needed by industry for a transitional period but are not among the specific exemptions in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021, such derogations should apply until 3 December 2020, which is the date of entry into force of the amendment of Annex A to the Stockholm Convention concerning PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds.

(10)

The restriction on PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds in Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, which the Commission now plans to delete, would normally start to apply on 4 July 2020. For reasons of coherence and to facilitate the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2019/1021, this Regulation should apply from the same date,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 4 July 2020.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 8 April 2020.

For the Commission

The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(1)   OJ L 169, 25.6.2019, p. 45.

(2)   OJ L 209, 31.7.2006, p. 3.

(3)   OJ L 81, 19.3.2004, p. 37.

(4)  Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC (OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p. 1).

(5)  Council Decision (EU) 2019/639 of 15 April 2019 on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union at the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties as regards amendments to Annexes A and B to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (OJ L 109, 24.4.2019, p. 22).

(6)  https://echa.europa.eu/documents/10162/c9666f21-532b-49a0-ace3-c843b7b8e5b0

ANNEX

In Part A of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021, the following entry is added:

Substance

CAS No

EC No

Specific exemption on intermediate use or other specification

‘Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds

“Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds” means the following:

(i)

perfluorooctanoic acid, including any of its branched isomers;

(ii)

its salts;

(iii)

PFOA-related compounds which, for the purposes of the Convention, are any substances that degrade to PFOA, including any substances (including salts and polymers) having a linear or branched perfluoroheptyl group with the moiety (C7F15)C as one of the structural elements.

The following compounds are not included as PFOA-related compounds:

(i)

C8F17-X, where X = F, Cl, Br;

(ii)

fluoropolymers that are covered by CF3[CF2]n-R’, where R’=any group, n> 16;

(iii)

perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (including their salts, esters, halides and anhydrides) with ≥ 8 perfluorinated carbons;

(iv)

perfluoroalkane sulfonic acids and perfluoro phosphonic acids (including their salts, esters, halides and anhydrides) with ≥ 9 perfluorinated carbons;

(v)

perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and its derivatives (PFOS), as listed in this Annex.

335-67-1 and others

206-397-9 and others

1.

For the purposes of this entry, point (b) of Article 4(1) shall apply to concentrations of PFOA or any of its salts equal to or below 0,025 mg/kg (0,0000025 % by weight) where they are present in substances, mixtures or articles.

2.

For the purposes of this entry, point (b) of Article 4(1) shall apply to concentrations of any individual PFOA-related compound or a combination of PFOA-related compounds equal to or below 1 mg/kg (0,0001 % by weight) where they are present in substances, mixtures or articles.

3.

For the purposes of this entry, point (b) of Article 4(1) shall apply to concentrations of PFOA-related compounds equal to or below 20 mg/kg (0,002 % by weight) where they are present in a substance to be used as a transported isolated intermediate within the meaning of Article 3 point 15(c) of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 and fulfilling the strictly controlled conditions set out in Article 18(4)(a) to (f) of that Regulation for the production of fluorochemicals with a carbon chain equal to or shorter than 6 atoms. This exemption shall be reviewed and assessed by the Commission no later than 5.7.2022.

4.

For the purposes of this entry, point (b) of Article 4(1) shall apply to concentrations of PFOA and its salts equal to or below 1 mg/kg (0,0001 % by weight) where they are present in polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) micropowders produced by ionising irradiation of up to 400 kilograys or by thermal degradation as well as in mixtures and articles for industrial and professional uses containing PTFE micropowders. All emissions of PFOA during the manufacture and use of PTFE micropowders shall be avoided and, if not possible, reduced as far as possible. This exemption shall be reviewed and assessed by the Commission no later than 5.7.2022.

5.

By way of derogation, the manufacturing, placing on the market and use of PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds shall be allowed for the following purposes:

(a)

photolithography or etch processes in semiconductor manufacturing, until 4 July 2025;

(b)

photographic coatings applied to films, until 4 July 2025;

(c)

textiles for oil- and water-repellency for the protection of workers from dangerous liquids that comprise risks to their health and safety, until 4 July 2023;

(d)

invasive and implantable medical devices, until 4 July 2025;

(e)

manufacture of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) for the production of:

(i)

high-performance, corrosion-resistant gas filter membranes, water filter membranes and membranes for medical textiles;

(ii)

industrial waste heat exchanger equipment,

(iii)

industrial sealants capable of preventing leakage of volatile organic compounds and PM2.5 particulates;

until 4 July 2023.

6.

By way of derogation, the use of PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds shall be allowed in fire-fighting foam for liquid fuel vapour suppression and liquid fuel fire (Class B fires) already installed in systems, including both mobile and fixed systems, until 4 July 2025, subject to the following conditions:

(a)

fire-fighting foam that contains or may contain PFOA, its salts and/or PFOA-related compounds shall not be used for training;

(b)

fire-fighting foam that contains or may contain PFOA, its salts and/or PFOA-related compounds shall not be used for testing unless all releases are contained;

(c)

as from 1 January 2023, uses of fire-fighting foam that contains or may contain PFOA, its salts and/or PFOA-related compounds shall only be allowed in sites where all releases can be contained;

(d)

fire-fighting foam stockpiles that contain or may contain PFOA, its salts and/or PFOA-related compounds shall be managed in accordance with Article 5.

7.

By way of derogation, the use of perfluooroctyl bromide containing perfluoroctyl iodide for the purpose of producing pharmaceutical products shall be allowed, subject to review and assessment by the Commission by 31 December 2026, every four years thereafter and by 31 December 2036.

8

Use of articles already in use in the Union before 4 July 2020 containing PFOA, its salts and/or PFOA-related compounds shall be allowed. Article 4(2), third and fourth subparagraphs shall apply in relation to such articles.

9.

By way of derogation, the use of PFOA, its salts and/or PFOA-related compounds shall be allowed until 3 December 2020 in the following articles:

(a)

medical devices other than implantable ones, within the scope of Regulation (EU) 2017/745 (*1);

(b)

latex printing inks;

(c)

plasma nano-coatings.

(*1)  Regulation (EU) 2017/745 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2017 on medical devices, amending Directive 2001/83/EC, Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 and Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 and repealing Council Directives 90/385/EEC and 93/42/EEC.”.

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