Albania has published its Candidate List of substances of very high concern (SVHCs). The latest law will become effective on April 13, 2022.
In April 2021, Albania published Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 222 of April 7, 2021 (Vendim i Këshillit të Ministrave nr. 222, datë 7.4.2021) on approving the Candidate List of substances of very concern (SVHCs). This Candidate list contains 211 SVHCs (similar to the EU’s REACH Candidate List before July 2021) and is an integral part of the nation’s Law No. 27/2016 (Ligj nr. 27/2016 datë 17.3.2016) ‘On the Management of Chemicals’ (the Chemical Management Law) – a comprehensive piece of legislation on the management of chemicals that has been in effect since 2018.
According to the latest Decision, the new law will become effective on April 13, 2022 – one year after its publication in the Official Gazette.
The Chemical Management Law is based on two pieces of legislation from the European Union (EU):
- Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 on ‘Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals’ (REACH)
- Regulation (EC) 1272/2008 on ‘Classification, Labeling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures’ (CLP Regulation)
It contains 13 chapters and includes provisions for, among other things, the creation of a Chemicals Office (Zyra e Kimikateve), a Candidate List of SVHCs, Authorization list of SVHCs, restrictions on the manufacture, placing on the market and use of certain dangerous substances, mixtures and articles, a helpdesk to assist stakeholders, safety data sheets (SDSs), classification, labeling and packaging of substances and mixtures, and to fulfil convention-related obligations and other international agreements for chemical management (Stockholm Convention, Rotterdam Convention and CLRTAP protocols). These provisions provide the nation with a high level of protection of human health and the environment.
Similar to Article 33 of REACH, Article 16 of the Chemical Management Law requires suppliers of an article containing a substance on the Candidate List in a concentration of more than 0.1% to provide the recipient of the article with sufficient information, available to the supplier, to allow the safe use of the article including, as a minimum, the name of the substance. This equivalent information is obliged to be supplied to consumers when requested, and suppliers have a duty to provide this information within 45 days.
Since the publication of the Chemical Management Law, Albania has published, inter alia, two important pieces of legislation for implementation of the law.
- Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 489, dated June 29, 2016 (Vendim i Këshillit të Ministrave nr. 489, datë 29.6.2016) on approving the list of SVHCs, the criteria for the inclusion of substances in the SVHC list and the issuance of a conditional authorization in order to continue the use of SVHCs. This ‘Authorization List’ contains 31 SVHCs and became effective in July 2016
- Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 319, dated May 15, 2019 (Vendim i Këshillit të Ministrave nr. 319, datë 15.5.2019) relating to restrictions on the manufacture, placing on the market and use of certain dangerous substances, mixtures and articles. This Decision entered into force on the day of its publication and applied from May 2021
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