Urgent need to step up enforcement of chemicals legislation for imported goods and online sales.
Key Findings:
- Surge in Chemical Non-Compliance: The percentage of chemical non-compliances in products rose from 35 % in 2022 to 51 % in 2023, making it the most reported risk for the second year running.
- This spike was driven mainly by a 12-fold surge in non-compliant cosmetics, but there has also been a significant increase of chemicals non-compliant with REACH (with figures doubling in 2023), and RoHS in electronics (with figures tripling in 2023).
- Imported goods remain the largest source of chemicals non-compliance with REACH (almost doubling to 901 instances in 2023).
- The number of products containing endocrine disruptors showed an upwards trend for the third consecutive year. This raises concerns about enforcement levels for imported goods, as 419 out of 427 instances came from outside the EU/EEA or from an unknown origin.
- Anomaly or Trend? The sharp rise in chemical non-compliance cases raises questions on whether this is a short-term anomaly or an indication of deeper enforcement issues.