Increase in imports of hazardous substances into the EU!

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Increase in imports of hazardous substances into the EU! – Due to trade in substances containing benzene!/span>

The reported volume of hazardous chemicals imported into and out of the European Union (EU) under the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Regulation has continued to rise sharply in 2022. The European Chemicals Agency’s (ECHA) annual report on trade in chemicals banned or severely restricted in the EU shows that imports of PIC chemicals have increased more than twenty-fold. From 883,119.74 tons in 2021 to 19,698,668.33 tons in 2022. This is due to benzene being included as a constituent in the list of chemicals covered by PIC in 2022.

“Dust in the dust”

Benzene-containing substances are the first “dust-in-dust” list under the PIC Regulation, with 96% (18,845,530.34 tons) of reported imports in 2022 involving these substances. The report also shows that exports of banned or severely restricted chemicals to non-EU countries increased by 24% between 2021 and 2022. In total, almost 980,941.51 tons of PIC chemicals were exported during the year.

Background

24 EU countries and 543 companies submitted data to ECHA on exports of PIC chemicals from the EU in 2022. Three EU countries and Northern Ireland reported no exports of PIC chemicals.
21 EU countries and Northern Ireland provided data on imports of PIC chemicals into the EU in 2022. The information came from 191 companies. Six EU countries stated that they had not imported any PIC chemicals.

The obligations

According to Article 10 of the PIC Regulation, importers and exporters must submit information on annual trade in the chemicals listed in Annex I of the Regulation to their national competent authorities by March 31 of the following year. Each EU country must then submit the aggregated information to ECHA so that it can be summarized at EU level and non-confidential information can be published.

More information

• Report on exports and imports of chemicals listed in Annex I of the Prior Informed Consent Regulation (PIC) in 2022 [PDF][EN]
• Annual reports on PIC exports and imports
• Chemicals from AnnexI
• Benzene as a component of other substances
• Understanding PIC
• News: ECHA recommends more transparency in the trade of hazardous chemicals 

Source: ECHA
Also read: Many consumer products contain hazardous chemicals!

Reservation
This information has been compiled with the greatest possible care, in some cases from different information sources. (Interpretation) errors are not excluded. No legal obligation can therefore be derived from this text. Everyone dealing with this subject has the responsibility to delve into the matter!