ECHA Invites Companies to Submit Notifications of Intention Under the Drinking Water Directive
The EU Drinking Water Directive (EU 2020/2184) sets minimum safety and hygiene standards for water intended for human consumption, including materials and products that come into contact with drinking water. Its primary objective is to ensure that substances used in these materials do not compromise water quality or public health. On 5 January 2026, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced that companies and economic operators can begin submitting Notifications of Intention under the directive. This marks a critical step in helping regulators identify which substances will be evaluated for use in drinking water contact materials. A significant number of substances may require assessment under the directive. However, ECHA and EU Member States currently lack visibility into which substances companies plan to submit. This uncertainty can create challenges in workload planning, potentially leading to evaluation delays, regulatory bottlenecks, and duplication of efforts where multiple companies prepare separate dossiers for the same substance. To address these challenges, early preparation is essential. Companies should identify all materials and substances used in products that come into contact with drinking water and assess whether they fall within the scope of the directive. Early submission of Notifications of Intention enables regulators to better anticipate workload and streamline evaluations. Organizations should also begin compiling technical data and explore joint submissions to minimize duplication and optimize resources. To support this process, companies can use the ECHA Industry Portal to indicate substances they intend to keep, add, or remove from the European Positive Lists. Notifications must be prepared in the IUCLID format, ensuring standardized and consistent data submission across the EU. ECHA has also published key resources to guide notifiers, including: Companies are strongly encouraged to review these materials before submission to avoid errors and delays. Once a Notification of Intention is submitted, companies have 12 months to prepare and submit their full application. From January 2027, applications to amend the European Positive Lists can be formally submitted. Submitting Notifications of Intention offers clear benefits for both regulators and industry. It improves transparency, supports better workload planning, and reduces duplication of effort. Most importantly, it strengthens consumer protection by ensuring that substances used in drinking water contact materials are properly evaluated, increasing public confidence in water safety. ECHA’s request for Notifications of Intention under the EU Drinking Water Directive represents a significant step toward harmonizing EU requirements for drinking water contact materials. By introducing an early notification phase, the framework enhances transparency, improves regulatory efficiency, and ensures smoother compliance processes. ComplianceXL supports companies in navigating these requirements through regulatory monitoring, substance identification, and preparation of technical documentation for successful submissions. FAQs: 1.What is the purpose of the Notification of Intention? The notification of intention informs the European Chemicals Agency that a company plans to submit a full application to add or remove a substance from the EU positive lists for materials that come into contact with drinking water. 2.Is the Notification of Intention the same as a full application? No. The notification is a preliminary step. A full application containing complete technical and scientific data must be submitted at a later stage. 3.Where should notifications be submitted? Notifications must be submitted electronically through the ECHA Industry Portal using the required data format.
SCIP Database Submission Timelines, To Be Compliant With European Commission And ECHA Regulations
As per the European Commission and European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), the Substances of Concern in Articles or Products (SCIP) database requirements are required to be completed and submitted by January 5th, 2021. Group of industries had requested to delay the EU Waste Framework Directive (WFD) by 12 months. However, the timeline to transpose EU WFD requirements into national law remained the same on July 5th, 2020. The delay request made to the European Commission also included re-evaluating the efficiency of the SCIP database, including its usefulness, feasibility, proportionality, and impacts. The European Commission and ECHA stand firm on the requirements of EU WFD while creating the SCIP database. According to the European Commission, the group of industries was informed about this submission timeline on May 30th, 2018. The SCIP database ensures that information on articles containing Candidate List substances is available throughout the whole lifecycle of products and materials, including at the waste stage. The information in the database is then made available to waste operators and consumers. Member states will establish enforcement of SCIP data requirements as mandated in the EU WFD. . Besides, the European Environmental Bureau and Client Earth, 49 other non-government organizations (NGO) have supported the decision of the European Commission and ECHA. ECHA published results of an enforcement pilot conducted between the period of October 2017 and December 2018 on November 6th, 2019. According to the findings, 12% of the articles published contained the Candidate list substances above the 0.1% weight by weight (w/w), threshold 88% of those failed to submit the right data to customers. The intention of creating the SCIP database is to maintain data and public transparency. SCIP database is the first digitally available enforcement mechanism that helps to create this kind of transparency. Starting from January 2021. Enforcement agents can hold companies accountable for the responsible handling of each component in their products. This includes every stage starting from raw materials to component recycling or disposal. As per the estimates, it could cost companies manufacturing or selling in Europe Billions of Euros per year to collect, prepare and submit the data required to meet new reporting obligations and ensure continued access to the European markets. Companies are now trying to organize, streamline, and automate the complex process of SCIP database submission. The intention is to make things simpler and allow seamless submission of the SCIP database within the set timelines. The European Commission and ECHA are trying to regulate the process. The SCIP database requires complex data sets for each article containing SVHCs above the threshold, presenting a substantial data burden to companies. Enventure offers a managed solution with your current compliance programs and efficiently scope your supply chain for all SCIP requirements and manage your submission from data acquisition to final upload. Talk to our SCIP Specialist today.