ECHA Outlines Timeline for the Next Steps for the PFAS Restriction Process

On 13 March 2024, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) published on its official website the next steps in the evaluation of the proposal to restrict per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

Outcome of the public consultation

Following the public consultation on the PFAS restriction dossier, submitted jointly by Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, where a record-breaking 5642 comments were received between March and September 2023. Following a thorough initial review by both the submitting authorities ECHA, the comments will now undergo sector-specific processing by ECHA's Scientific Committees, namely the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) and the Committee for Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC), in addition to review by the dossier submitters. The submitting countries will use the feedback to revise the original restriction report, which will serve as the basis for the Committees' opinion, together with the comments.

Upcoming Committee meetings

The upcoming RAC and SEAC Committee meetings will address the following topics and sectors:

March 2024 Meetings:

• Consumer mixtures, cosmetics, and ski wax

• Hazard properties of PFAS (RAC only)

• General approach (SEAC only)

June 2024 Meetings:

• Metal coating and manufacturing of metal products

• Additional discussion on hazard properties (RAC only)

September 2024 Meetings:

• Textiles, upholstery, leather, apparel, carpets (TULAC)

• Food contact materials and packaging

• Petroleum and mining

ECHA will continue to provide updates on the timetable and planned discussions in the committees as work progresses. Information releases will be timed to coincide with the committee meetings.

Next steps

Once the ECHA Committees have finalised their opinions, the European Commission together with the EU Member States will decide on the restriction.