EU round up – specialist EU coatings exports to Russia banned by Brussels

Exports from the European Union (EU) to Russia of a wide variety of specialist coatings with military uses have been banned as a result of extensive sanctions imposed on Moscow. Imposed because of the Ukraine crisis, the EU Council of Ministers has released details of the banned goods, which include so-called ‘dual-use’ goods that have military, as well as civilian uses. These include, for instance, coatings specially designed to reduce radar reflectivity; coatings designed to reduce or target infrared or ultraviolet reflections or emissions; and equipment designed for the deposition, processing and control of inorganic coatings for non-electronic substrates. See http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid= 1406553915752&uri=CELEX:02009R0428-20140702 for a full list of the banned exports. A council communiqué explained that these ‘restrictive measures [were] in response to Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine’.

Meanwhile, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and the European Commission have decided to include non-EU companies in the upcoming EU list of approved biocidal active substances. This will come into force from September 1 next year (2015) only included substances can be sold and used in the EU. The Commission and ECHA have now agreed that non-EU companies applying for substances to be included will now be identified on the list, next to their EU representative. Non-EU companies requesting that a new biocidal substance be included on the list will also be named in future, along with their EU representatives.

Also, ECHA has published examples of illustrating exposures to hazardous substances, which are to be annexed to the safety data sheet under the EU chemical control system REACH. The goal, said an agency note, was to ‘promote ways of efficiently communicating on the safe use of chemicals down the supply chain’. The examples include the correct format, advice on using standard phrases and general points to consider when preparing exposure scenarios. ECHA added annotated templates – one each for an industrial, professional and consumer use of a substance. See http://echa.europa.eu/web/guest/support/ practical-examples-of-exposure-scenarios.

Finally, ECHA has given the coatings industry until September 19 to comment on whether the EU should block the use of cadmium and its compounds in artist paints. The Swedish government wants the ban – cadmium compounds most frequently used in artists’ paints are cadmium sulphoselenide red, cadmium sulphoselenide orange and cadmium zinc sulphide yellow. Sweden has suggested allowing the use of cadmium compounds in paints used to restore and maintain works of art, historic buildings and their interiors.

See http://echa.europa.eu/restrictions-under-consideration/-/substance/5701/ search/+/term