A U-turn on Resorcinol SVHC identification

According to the EU Commission, the EU executive is sketching an alternative to add the endocrine-disrupting chemical Resorcinol to the REACH candidate list. It had been consensually approved earlier in February with industry and member states, subsiding the once disputed scientific evidence behind the intention.

After the Commission corrected the voting outcome finalized by the REACH Committee in January to "no opinion" based on legal advice, the EU Commission has been forced to make a U-turn for the controversy over the decision of identifying resorcinol as a Substance of Very High Concern (SVHC). The misinterpreted vote by EU member states had delivered a split verdict instead of an endorsement of the draft regulation as initially understood.

In line with the legislation on comitology rules, the executive will either amend the draft decision seeking a potential compromise and reach a positive opinion between member states, or present the original draft decision to the appeal committee, aiming at reaching a positive opinion at a politically higher level. Despite the controversy, it is nonetheless not planned to reverse the draft implementation Decision.

In its original plan, it is ideal for the Commission to defer the SVHC decision until the new criteria of endocrine disruptors are developed under the Classification, Labelling, and Packaging (CLP) Regulation in the pipeline. However, strong opposition was argued from the Rescorcinol Task Force (RTF), for the status quo appeared unclear for concerned individuals regarding if the two above mentioned options would be available in practice.