Content of Substances of Very High Concern (the Candidate List)
Level:
This contract term minimizes content of the environmentally and health-hazardous chemicals listed on the candidate list in the EU chemicals legislation Reach.
Details
- Type:
- Special contract terms
- ID:
- 11049:2
- Group:
- Acquisition of textiles during the contract period
Criterion text
Textiles acquired by the supplier during the contract period and which are included in the laundry and textile service covered by the contract shall not contain substances included on the current candidate list (Article 59 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)) at levels above 0.1 weight% (1000 mg/kg) per substance. By 0.1 weight% is meant each individual part of a product 1
If new substances are entered on the candidate list during the agreement period, the supplier shall within six months of the European Chemicals Agency's (ECHA) publication of a revised candidate list present an action plan on how the substances can be phased out.
Verification
The supplier shall be able to present a verification, for example one of the following:
- Ecolabels fulfilling the requirement, for example:
License in accordance with Nordic Ecolabelling of Textile, hides/ skins and leather Version 4
License in accordance with EU Ecolabel for textiles 2014/350/EU
License in accordance with Good Environmental Choice Textile Criteria (Category Fibre and Finishing), 2012:3
License in accordance with GOTS version 5.0 (2017) or version 6.0 (2020)
- The supplier sends in a supplier declaration in the bid, showing how the requirement is fulfilled. The declaration must be signed by a competent representative for the supplier. It must be possible to verify the information with technical documentation from suppliers and materials manufacturers, and materials tests if necessary, in accordance with recommendations in the Swedish Chemical Agency's "Guidance for Suppliers of Articles", if the contracting authority requests to see that.
Proposed follow-up
If the requirement has been verified with an ecolabel check that there is a valid license. This can be checked:
Nordic Swan Ecolabel, EU Ecolabel, Good Environmental choice, GOTS.
If the requirement has been verified with a supplier declaration request the technical documentation for a selection of the textiles. The technical documentation may for example be analysis reports, declarations from raw material suppliers showing that the textiles fulfil the requirement.
Information about the criterion
There are currently no accredited verification bodies according to ISO / IEC 17029 (Conformity assessment - General principles and requirements for validation and verification bodies), as it is a relatively new standard. However, this may change, especially if the demand for verifying compliance in this way increases. This possibility is therefore included in the list of possible verifications. More information about the standard is available at www.swedac.se.
Environmental goals
Motive
The candidate list (Article 59 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) in the EU chemicals legislation REACH registers Substances of Very High Concern, SVHC. These are substances that are dangerous to humans and/or the environment and that might be included on the authorisation list (REACH Annex XIV), for which reason early phase-out is preferable. The candidate list is updated on a regular basis, approximately twice a year. The most recent list is available on the European Chemicals Agency ECHA's website.
It is important to place this requirement because awareness of the legislative requirement is sometimes low in certain industries (see Swedish Chemical Agency report, Enforcement 5/12). Access to information on content of substances on the candidate list allows an active product selection at the call-off stage or phase-out from operations. A way for tenderers to fulfil the requirement is to work according to the method described in the Swedish Chemical Agency's "Guidance for Suppliers of Articles" when performing inventory and control of substances in their products.
This requirement means that substances that are on the candidate list may not be present in the tendered products at levels above 0.1 weight% (1000mg/kg) per substance.
Versions history
The version date indicates when the sustainability criterion was created or last updated. Last reviewed dated tells when we last checked that the sustainability criterion still is relevant.
- Current ID
- 11049:2
- Version date
- 2021-11-10
- Review date
- 2020-08-19