IPC and 40 Groups Urge European Commission President to Postpone Reporting Deadline for SCIP Database
Key Summary
• IPC and nearly 40 industry groups urged the European Commission to postpone the January 2021 SCIP database reporting deadline
• Companies supplying articles with SVHCs would otherwise be required to begin submissions on 5 January 2021
• Concerns center on the database’s workability, lack of stakeholder consultation, and insufficient time for companies to adapt
• IPC supports the database’s intent but believes implementation has been rushed and disproportionate
• Industry groups hope the Commission will reconsider the deadline and take a more practical approach
Today, IPC joined with almost 40 other industry groups in calling on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to postpone the January deadline for a new chemicals database and to study related issues further before it goes forward.
Under current plans, companies supplying articles containing substances of very high concern (SVHCs) to the EU market will be obligated to submit information on these articles to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) beginning on 5 January 2021.
IPC supports the intent of the SCIP database to make information about SVHCs available throughout the life cycle of products and enable “circular economy” efficiencies. However, the development and implementation of the database has raised serious doubts about its workability, proportionality, and value. Specifically, we believe the ECHA failed to finalize the database within a timeframe that would enable companies to develop, test and adapt their own systems to meet the January deadline. Moreover, contrary to the EU Better Regulation principles, the requirements were adopted without any prior stakeholder consultation or impact assessment.
To date, the relevant parties have resisted calls for a postponement of the deadline, but IPC and our industry colleagues hope that by shining a spotlight on the flaws in the process, we can persuade the EC to take a more measured, reasonable approach. In the weeks ahead, we will continue to work with you and European policy makers to advocate for a better policy outcome.
View industry joint news release and the list of signatories.
Please contact me if you have any questions and/or want to be involved.
They asked to postpone the 5 January 2021 start date requiring companies to submit SVHC information to the SCIP database.
The database was not finalized early enough for companies to build and test compliance systems, raising concerns about workability and proportionality.
Yes, IPC supports improving SVHC transparency and enabling circular economy practices but disagrees with how quickly the system is being implemented.
The requirements were adopted without stakeholder consultation or an impact assessment, which runs counter to EU Better Regulation principles.
IPC will continue working with members and policymakers to advocate for a more workable approach and encourage reconsideration of the deadline.