On 7 January 2025, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced that the European Commission has updated the EU’s Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Regulation, adding 40 new chemicals to its list. This amendment, which will come into effect on 20 January 2025, requires EU exporters to notify ECHA before exporting these substances from 1 March 2025.
The 40 newly added chemicals include 35 pesticides, such as abamectin, difenacoum, and triadimenol, as well as five industrial chemicals, including dihexyl phthalate and sodium perborate. These chemicals will now be listed in Annex I of the PIC Regulation, which requires exporters to submit a notification before export. The majority of these substances will also require explicit consent from the importing country before they can be shipped, in accordance with Part 2 of Annex I. Additionally, the amendment updates the status of two existing chemicals, cyanamide and warfarin, which will also require explicit consent for export from 1 March 2025. Furthermore, a subgroup of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – specifically perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) and its salts – will be added to Annex V, which imposes an export ban on these chemicals due to their classification as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) under the Stockholm Convention.
The PIC Regulation, which governs the trade of hazardous chemicals banned or severely restricted in the EU, now includes 321 chemicals. The updated regulation strengthens global control over dangerous chemicals, aiming to protect human health and the environment.