G/TBT/N/EU/131  
 
12 July 2013  
(13-3691)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
NOTIFICATION 
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Notifying Member:  EUROPEAN UNION  
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):     
2. Agency responsible:  European Commission 
Name and address (including telephon e and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above :   
European Commission 
EU-TBT Enquiry Point 
Fax:  +(32) 2 299 80 43 E-mail:  eu-tbt@ec.europa.eu  
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/   
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:   
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  Leather 
Articles and articles containing leather parts which contain chromium VI above 3 ppm. 
5. Title, number of pages and langua ge(s) of the notified document:  Draft 
Commission Regulation 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 chromium VI compounds (5 pages, in English).     
6. Description of content:  The draft Regulation prohibits the placing on the market of 
leather articles and articles containing leather parts if the content of chromium VI is equal to or greater than 3 mg/kg of the total dry weight of leather in the leather article 
or the leather parts. 
The draft Regulation proposes to provide for derogation from the restriction, for 
consumers who want to resell second-hand articles. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable:  Chromium VI compounds are formed in  leather through the oxidation of 
chromium III compounds. Chromium III compounds are added in some tanning 
processes to cross-link the collagen subunits in order to increase leather's dimensional stability as well as its resistance to mechanical action and heat.  
Exposure to chromium VI contained in leather articles or leather parts of articles, coming 
into contact with the skin, poses a risk to human health. When in contact with the skin, 
chromium VI and its compounds can induce sensitisation and elicit allergic reactions at very low concentrations in already sensitised persons. G/TBT/N/EU/131 
 
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  8. Relevant documents:   Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and 
of the Council on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH Regulation) 
http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:396:0001:0849:EN:PDF  
The compiled opinions of the Committees for Risk Assessment (RAC) and Socio-
economic Analysis (SEAC): 
http://www.echa.europa.eu/web/g uest/previous-consultations- on-restriction-proposals/-
/substance/413/search/+/term    
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:    First quarter 2014 20 days from publication in the Official Journal of the EU (about a month after 
adoption approx.). The proposed date of 
application is the first quarter of 2015. 
10. Final date for comments:  60 days from date of notification 
11. Text available from:  National enquiry point [X], or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresse s, if available of the other body:    
European Commission 
EU-TBT Enquiry Point 
Fax:  + (32) 2 299 80 43 
E-mail:  eu-tbt@ec.europa.eu  
The text is available on the EU-TBT Website:  http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tbt/  
http://members.wto.org/crnattach ments/2013/tbt/EEC/13_2716_00_e.pdf  
http://members.wto.org/crnattach ments/2013/tbt/EEC/13_2716_01_e.pdf