Chemicals: New bans and practice changes

The Chemicals Risk Reduction Ordinance (ChemRRV) regulates the handling of substances and product groups that pose a potential hazard to humans and the environment. The Federal Council today approved the revised ChemRRV. In doing so, it is implementing a decision by the contracting parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, making adjustments to new EU law and strengthening the role of the cantons in the approval procedure for spraying flights. The revised ordinance enters into force on September 1, 2015.

Main adaptations to new EU legal provisions and as a result of obligations under international law:

• Ban on the manufacture and marketing of measuring instruments containing mercury (e.g. blood pressure measuring device) and of certain phenylmercury compounds.
• Specify the timing for the conversion of chlor-alkali electrolysis plants operating with the mercury-amalgam process to other state-of-the-art processes.
• Ban on the marketing of certain articles with plastic or rubber parts containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and certain leather articles containing hexavalent chromium.
• Ban on placing articles containing hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDD) on the market. This affects in particular thermal insulation panels made of polystyrene, which in the future may no longer be equipped with the flame retardant HBCDD. The use and marketing of HBCDD and preparations containing HBCDD are already prohibited.
• Prohibition of short-chain chlorinated kerosenes (SCCPs) for the manufacture, placing on the market and use as substances and as constituents of preparations and articles.

Main changes based on experience in enforcement practice and development of technology:

• The cantons will now be more closely involved in the approval process for spraying flights for the application of pesticides, biocides and fertilizers. The Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA), which issues the permits for these flights, consults the cantons before making a decision. In particular, they are to comment on whether the conditions for granting a permit are met and what measures are to be taken to protect people and the environment.
• Molasses from sugar production is now included in the positive list of de-icing agents that may be used for winter road maintenance. Their use on national roads and other traffic areas is subject to technical conditions.
• The restrictions on the placing on the market of refrigeration systems with refrigerants stable in air have been tightened in the commercial sector and relaxed for compact systems. A more precise notification procedure now applies to the commissioning and decommissioning of refrigeration systems.
• The regulation for the export of extinguishing agents that damage the ozone layer - so-called halons - was adapted to the existing regulation for ozone-depleting substances.