Document x5EG26eMxYDbvMLLo6DZgXQ7E

ELZBIETA BIENKOWSKA MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION Ref. Ares(2016)86183 - 07/01/2016 Asa Romson Minister for Climate and the Environment Ministry ofthe Environment and Energy Rosenbad, 4 SE- 103 33 Stockholm Brussels, 0 7 JAN 2016 Dear Ms Romson, Thank you for your letter of 27 October 2015 concerning the need for EU action in the field of hazardous chemical substances present in textiles. I will answer on behalf of the Commission. Further to my letter of l 4 July 2015, I am pleased to let you know that the Commission has continued working to address a group of substances of particular concern that might be present in textiles articles, namely those classified as Carcinogenic, Mutagenic and Toxic for Reproduction (CMRs) category l A and 1B. In addition to launching a public consultation on a potential ban on a list of CMR substances that could be present in textiles, DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs organised, on 20 November 2015, a very fruitful meeting with stakeholders of the textile sectors (including representatives from Swedish trade associations). We would encourage the finns and associations who co-signed your letter to contribute to the public consultation1, so that we receive as much relevant info1mation as possible to support a forthcoming proposal for regulatory action. The consultation is open until 22 January 2016. In your letter, you refer to two specific categories of chemical substances, biocidal products and perfluorinated chemicals (PFAs). On PFAs, work is on-going in the framework of REACH. Some Member States, with the support of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), are working on the identification of substances that may pose a risk and are discussing the most appropriate regulatory option to address any concerns. The Commission is supporting this initiative under the Risk Management Option Analysis (RMOA) process that has been put in place to decide on regulatory action under REACH. In addition, a restriction process is on-going for PFOA, a substance belonging to this group. 1 http:ljec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item id=8299 RUE OE LA LOI 200 - B-1049 BRUSSELS - TEL.: (+32-2)295.40.80 Regarding the treatment of garments with biocides, we recognise your concern and agree that the matter needs to be discussed with a view to agreeing on a harmonised approach and taking appropriate action, in particular with regard to antimicrobial resistance. As communicated in the meeting of Member States' competent authorities for biocidal products of November 2015, the starting point for such action, is the approval of active substances under Regulation (EU) No 528/2012. On the approval of active substances, various restrictions and conditions can be included to ensure that biocidal products and treated articles placed on the EU market are safe for human health, animal health and the environment. In that respect, the priority for the Commission is to conclude as soon as possible the review programme of existing active substances and in particular silver, which is the substance primarily used to give garments biocidal properties. Sweden is the Member State responsible for the evaluation of silver under that review programme, and we are in touch with Swedish authorities to ensure that the conclusions of this evaluation are made available to the European Chemicals Agency in accordance with the agreed timelines. Finally, in so far as no specific provisions apply to textiles or if some aspects and categories of risks are not covered by specific provisions, the General Product Safety Directive2 applies. The General Product Safety Directive requires that only safe products can be placed in the market and imposes obligations on manufacturers, importers and distributors regarding safety. Member States must ensure that economic operators comply with their obligations on product safety including chemical safety, and when risks are found, they send alerts to the Commission and other Member States to enable corrective measures to be taken. Please feel welcome to share my response with the companies who co-signed your letter of27 October 2015. Yours sincerely, pietaB1enkowska Consultation on a possible restriction of hazardous substances (CMR I A and I B) in textile articles and clothing for consumer use under Article 68(2) of Regulation EC No 1907/2006 (REACH) 2 - Electronically signed on 06/01/2016 14:57 (UTC+0l) in accordance with article 4.2 (Validity of electronic documents) ofCommission Decision 2004/563