Danish mobile APP Increase consumer SVHCInformation disclosure requirements
The Danish EPA has built a smartphone application (APP) for consumers to download. By scanning the product barcode with their mobile phone, the substances of very high concern (SVHC) contained in the product will be displayed on the mobile screen.
Danish EPA statistics show that in the year since this APP was launched, Danish consumers have used this APP nearly 70,000 times, and more than 1,000 manufacturers have provided SVHC information in their products to this APP database. According to Coop, Denmark's largest retailer, in the first few months after the APP was launched, more than 850 consumers requested the company's products to disclose SVHC-related information; Bestseller, another famous clothing brand, said that during the same period, more than 100 consumers Investors demand transparency in product information.
According to Article 33 of the EU REACH Chemical Substances Regulation, when the SVHC content in a product exceeds 0.11 TP3T weight percentage, the manufacturer is obliged to respond to consumers' requests for product SVHC information free of charge within 45 days. However, according to on-site visits by environmental groups, consumers are not clear about their rights and interests. Before the launch of this APP, Coop only received 8 consumer requests for information on SVHC, while Bestseller only received about 1 request per month. consumer demands.
Bestseller's Global Environmental Coordinator pointed out that consumers may find this APP very convenient, but this APP still has blind spots and shortcomings in its use. For example, large companies usually have Restricted Substances Lists (RSLs) internally. Instead of only displaying which SVHCs are contained in products on the APP, it is better to also display the company's RSLs, which can better educate consumers, and Let consumers understand the efforts of the company. In addition, for relatively small companies, it is unknown whether the products provided by the upstream supply chain contain SVHC. For the products of smaller companies, this APP is useless.
Coop's regulatory manager said that most consumers do not understand the scope of REACH regulations and the content of the candidate SVHC list. Therefore, in order to respond to the surge in consumer SVHC requirements after the APP was launched, Coop spent a lot of manpower and material resources internally. to achieve information disclosure. However, in addition to the increase in internal working hours, this APP has become a communication channel between the company and customers/consumers and the upstream supply chain. When a new consumer SVHC requirement comes in, Coop will convey the requirement to the upstream supplier and require the supplier to respond within a time limit. This applies even if the supplier is far away in China. These accumulated requirements can also convey to upstream suppliers the degree of consumer concern about SVHC in products.
At present, in addition to Denmark, Switzerland and Germany have also launched similar APPs to increase consumers' attention to SVHC in products and emphasize consumers' right to know under the REACH regulations.
Source: Chemical Watch (2015-03-05) (PIDC compilation)
