After years of deliberations, on 29 February 2024 the REACH Regulatory Committee finally approved the joint application (Gerhardi Joint Application) submitted by Gerhardi Kunststofftechnik GmbH for the use of chromium trioxide for the coating of plastics for automotive applications until 21 September 2029.
After the application had already been submitted on 22 February 2016, a substitution plan was drawn up at the subsequent request of the EU Commission and subsequently submitted on 8 December 2020. On 28 June 2021, this was classified as "credible" by the European Chemicals Agency. Since then, however, the application has been blocked in the REACH Regulatory Committee, which is made up of representatives of the EU member states and the EU Commission.
At the beginning of 2024, the consortium provided additional information at the request of the EU Commission and made certain concessions to enable approval in the REACH Regulatory Committee. Among other things, the end of the review period has now been brought forward to 21 September 2029. A review report must be submitted by 21 March 2028, outlining the extent to which the plans set out in the substitution plan have been implemented.
The FGK is now working on how the requirements will be processed and standardised, and on agreeing on a procedure that is as uniform as possible.
Fachverband Galvanisierte Kunststoffe e.V.
P.O. Box 10 10 63
40710 Hilden
Phone: +49 2103 25 56 10