Trade in products containing benzene increases EU imports of hazardous chemicals

PIC Chemicals Containing Benzene in ECHA's Annual Report on Trade

The trade of products containing benzene in the EU has significantly increased, according to the annual report published by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). The main reason for this increase is the addition of benzene to the list of chemicals subject to the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) in the year 2022. In the years 2021-2022, there was also a 24% increase in the export of banned or severely restricted chemicals from the EU to non-EU countries. During this period, a total of 980,941.51 tons of PIC chemicals were exported. In summary, there has been an increase in the import and export of harmful chemicals under the PIC Regulation in the year 2022.

Details

In 2022, data on PIC (Prior Informed Consent) chemical exports from the EU was provided to ECHA by 24 EU member countries and 543 companies. Three EU countries and Northern Ireland did not provide any data as they did not export PIC chemicals. However, Northern Ireland and 21 EU countries, along with 191 companies, provided data on the import of these chemicals within the EU. Six EU countries reported that they did not import PIC chemicals.

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) regularly publishes annual reports on the trade of banned or severely restricted chemicals in the EU. In accordance with the report released last year, the import of PIC chemicals in the EU increased by at least 20 times during the 2021-2022 period. According to ECHA, the reason behind this increase is the addition of benzene to the list of chemicals subject to the PIC in 2022. With this addition, substances containing benzene constituted the first "substance in substance" entry under the PIC Regulation, covering 96% of the reported imports in 2022. The report also indicates a 24% increase in the export of banned or severely restricted chemicals from the EU during the same period, amounting to a total of 980,941.51 tons of PIC chemicals exported in the 2021-2022 period.

It should be noted that according to Article 10 of the PIC Regulation, importers and exporters are obliged to provide information on the annual trade of chemicals listed in Annex I of the Regulation and transmit this information to the relevant national authorities by March 31 of the following year. ECHA also requests each EU country to provide aggregated information.

This article was originated from ECHA.