WFD/SCIP notification: Best-Practice Guidance for the European Space Sector – 2nd update

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ASD-EUROSPACE herewith releases the second update of the Best-Practice Guidance (BPG) for the European Space Sector to comply with SCIP notification (available HERE). It follows the progress of SCIP implementation at ECHA, in the EU Member States and by industry.

As from 5 January 2021 any EU supplier of an article containing REACH Candidate List substances above 0.1% w/w has to provide the information pursuant to REACH Article 33(1) to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). This requirement stems from Article 9(1)(i) of the revised Waste Framework Directive (WFD) 2008/98/EC in association with EU national provisions transposing it. According to WFD Article 9(2) ECHA has established a ‘SCIP’ database for the data to be submitted to it by 5 January 2020, and has provided public access to that database since September 2021.

In anticipation of this requirement – and given the special case of space products which do not result in waste for treatment on Earth/in EU – ASD-EUROSPACE had issued an initial BPG for the European Space Sector to comply with SCIP notification already on 1 October 2020. A first update of the guidance was released in February 2021, to take account of the first application date of the SCIP notification duty.

The present second update takes into account

  • The publication of the SCIP database, available here;
  • The sectorial ASD Guidance on WFD/SCIP as of April 2022; see full guidance and brief guide;
  • The possibility of conflicting national rules on SCIP notifications / exemptions for dual use products, by providing additional recommendations;
  • Information collected on space-relevant categories for SCIP notifications (new Annex 3);
  • The latest IUCLID version for the illustrative notification examples shown.

This update, just like the previous versions, has been prepared in the frame of the WFD/SCIP Space Task Force, which comprises key participants from space industry and agencies.

It should be highlighted that also the present update has not led to material changes of the existing recommendations in the BPG. It is recalled that the Guidance contributes to the efforts of the regulators – foremost the ECHA as recipient of SCIP notifications and host of the SCIP database – to avoid unnecessary notifications and to reduce the data volumes to be collected, stored and processed to an appropriate and manageable level. Additionally, the BPG aims to support compliance with national rules transposing WFD/SCIP, other applicable laws and regulations (e.g. on export control) and to address possible defence or security related concerns with regard to SCIP database submissions.
The continuous monitoring of the SCIP database on space-relevant entries since 2021 shows a steady increase of SCIP notifications for space products or related parts, predominantly due to the presence of lead metal in space electrical and electronic equipment, which is permitted und the RoHS Directive.
It is noted that SCIP only applies to article suppliers in the EU Member States, subject to national transpositions. It does not apply in the United Kingdom nor in Switzerland. Article suppliers in the European Economic Area (EEA) countries Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein cannot make SCIP notifications until the revised WFD is incorporated in the EEA Agreement (see ECHA Q&A ID 1661, Version 1.0, modified date 05/03/2021, available here).

Contacts:

  • Secretariat: Pierre Lionnet, Research and Managing Director, ASD-EUROSPACE, pierre.lionnet@eurospace.org, +33-(0)1 44 42 00 70
  • Task Force coordinator: Tim Becker, Senior Legal Advisor, REACHLaw Ltd., tim.becker@reachlaw.fi; +358 (0)40 773 8143