On September 25, the European General Court made a judgment with regard to Case T‑268/10 that acrylamide supplier held that acrylamide cannot qualify as a substance of very high concern (SVHC) as it is used solely as an intermediate. The Court of Justice rejected the appeal and ruled that the purpose of the exemption for intermediates from the REACH Regulation's authorisation chapter is to exclude the intermediate uses of a substance.

On 30 March 2013, ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) added acrylamide to the SVHC list (candidate list). There follows a legal battle as SNF SAS and other acrylamide producers appealed to the court as they held that acrylamide cannot qualify as a substance of very high concern (SVHC). It is until September of this year that the court made the final judgment and set forth relevant rules.

The court gives its interpretation of what constitutes an intermediate use: If the substance is not used with the aim of manufacturing another substance, but the main purpose of the chemical process is to obtain a function other than the creation of a new substance, the use is not an intermediate use, but rather an end use of the substance. The court basically fully upheld the position described in Appendix 4 of Echa’s guidance on intermediates as to what constitutes an intermediate use. It is consistent with the information in Appendix 4 of ECHA’s Guidance on Intermediate.

The presence of SVHC in products involves obligations such as information communication, notification and restriction. Therefore the companies intending to place their products on the EU market shall track the update of SVHC list to avoid trade barriers.

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Further information
Judgment of the General Court
Guideline on Intermediates