REACH SVHC List and Candidate List, Explained

REACH is Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, entered into force in 2007, and applies to virtually all chemical substances manufactured, imported or used in the EU — on their own, in mixtures, or in manufactured "articles."

REACH works through four processes: Registration (substances at 1 tonne/year or more), Evaluation, Authorisation (for SVHCs placed on Annex XIV), and Restriction (for SVHCs posing unacceptable risk, listed on Annex XVII).

An SVHC is a substance identified under REACH Article 57 as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction (CMR); persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) or very persistent/very bioaccumulative (vPvB); or of equivalent concern by other evidence.

The Candidate List is the running list of SVHCs; ECHA recommends priority Candidate List substances to the European Commission for inclusion on Annex XIV (the Authorisation List), which sets "sunset dates" after which use needs authorisation.

Who must comply

• Manufacturers and importers of a substance (alone or in a mixture) at 1 tonne or more per year must register it with ECHA and gather data on its properties.
• Any supplier of an article containing a Candidate List substance above 0.1% w/w must communicate safe-use information to recipients under REACH Article 33(1), and to consumers, on request and within 45 days, under Article 33(2).
• The same 0.1% w/w threshold separately triggers a SCIP notification duty to ECHA — see the EU SCIP regulation page for that obligation specifically.
• Substances on Annex XIV (the Authorisation List) must be progressively replaced by less dangerous alternatives where feasible; substances on Annex XVII may be limited or banned outright.

Deadlines

• 2007-06-01 — REACH entered into force, per its own commencement provision. (EUR-Lex — Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, as of 2026-09-27)
• 2021-01-05 — SCIP notification duty begins for articles containing Candidate List substances above 0.1% w/w (a REACH-linked, WFD-based obligation — see the EU SCIP page). (European Commission — COM(2025) 986 final, as of 2026-09-27)
• 2026-12-31 — ECHA's current Annex XVII restricted-substances dataset transition period runs until this date, to allow a smooth transition to ECHA CHEM. (ECHA — Substances restricted under REACH, as of 2026-09-27)

How Rumzer helps

• MatCheck analyzes your Bill of Materials down to the substance level (Full Material Disclosure) and recommends a compliance assessment against the REACH Candidate List and Annex XVII, so you always know how much of your BOM has been checked. Explore MatCheck
• MatCheck's in-app SCIP tool and the standalone SCIPBridge integration handle the Article 33 / SCIP 0.1% w/w threshold together, instead of tracking REACH and SCIP obligations in separate spreadsheets. Explore MatCheck
• RumzerCE folds MatCheck into CE conformity workflows for the same products, so a single team can manage REACH material compliance and CE technical documentation together. Explore RumzerCE

Sources

1. European Commission — REACH regulation — fetched 2026-09-27
2. ECHA — Understanding REACH — fetched 2026-09-27
3. ECHA — Candidate List table — fetched 2026-09-27
4. ECHA — Authorisation List — fetched 2026-09-27
5. ECHA — Substances restricted under REACH — fetched 2026-09-27
6. EUR-Lex — Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 — fetched 2026-09-27