Commission Regulation (EU) No 848/2012 of 19 September 2012 amending Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) as regards phenylmercury compounds Text with EEA relevance

• Coming into Force: 10 October 2012,10 October 2017
• End of Effective Date: 31 December 9999
• Celex Number: 32012R0848
• ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2012/848/oj
• Published date: 20 September 2012
• Date: 19 September 2012
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Union, L 253, 20 September 2012

20.9.2012 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 253/5

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 848/2012

of 19 September 2012

amending Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) as regards phenylmercury compounds

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC (1), and in particular Article 68(1) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) In its Communication to the Council and the European Parliament on a Community Strategy Concerning Mercury (2) the Commission outlined that it is necessary to reduce mercury levels in the environment and human exposure and proposed as objectives, among others, the reduction of entry into circulation of mercury in society, by cutting supply and demand, the reduction of mercury emissions and the protection against mercury emissions. That Communication was reviewed in 2010 (3).

(2) The Council has reaffirmed several times its commitment to the overall objective of protecting human health and the environment from the release of mercury and its compounds by minimising and, where feasible, ultimately eliminating global anthropogenic mercury releases to air, water and land. In this context, the Council underlined that mercury-added products, where viable alternatives exist, should be phased out as rapidly and as completely as possible, with the ultimate goal that all mercury-added products should be phased-out, taking into due account technical and economic circumstances and the needs for scientific research and development (4).

(3) Mercury and its compounds are highly toxic to humans, ecosystems and wildlife. High doses can be fatal to humans, but even relatively low doses can have serious adverse neurodevelopmental impacts and have also been linked with possible harmful effects on the cardiovascular, immune and reproductive systems. Mercury is considered as a global persistent pollutant, circulating between air, water, sediments, soil and biota in various forms and can change in the environment into methylmercury, its most toxic form.

(4) Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 provides that, if a Member State considers that the manufacture, placing on the market or use of a substance on its own, in a mixture or in an article poses a risk to human health or the environment that is not adequately controlled and needs to be addressed, it shall prepare a dossier after notifying that intention to the European Chemicals Agency (hereinafter ‘the Agency’).

(5) Pursuant to Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No 25/2008 of 14 March 2008 amending Annex II (Technical regulations, standards, testing and certification) to the EEA Agreement (5), Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 was incorporated into the Agreement on the European Economic Area.

(6) Norway has prepared a dossier concerning five phenylmercury compounds, namely phenylmercury acetate, phenylmercury propionate, phenylmercury 2-ethylhexanoate, phenylmercury octanoate and phenylmercury neodecanoate, which demonstrates that action on a Union-wide basis is necessary to address the risk to human health and the environment posed by the manufacture, use and

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