On 12 April 2023 ECHA announced on its website that it recommends the European Commission to add eight substances of very high concern (SVHC), including lead, to the REACH Annex XIV authorisation list. Once a substance is added to the authorisation list, producers must apply for authorisation in order to continue using it.

ECHA is obliged to regularly recommend substances from the candidate list to the Commission for inclusion in the authorisation list. Before submitting its recommendation to the European Commission it takes into account the comments received during the three-month consultation and the opinion of the Member State Committee. 
The eight substances proposed for the authorisation list are:



As early as 2014, ECHA identified lead as a priority substance for assessment on the SVHC list and published a draft recommendation in February 2022. During the draft stage ECHA fully took in views from many sides, and has now published the formal document of its eleventh recommendation, recommending that lead and seven other substances be placed on the authorisation list.
The recommendation brings metallic lead into the same regulatory stage as other lead compounds with similar uses, which had already been proposed for inclusion in the authorisation list.
Authorisation can be seen as one of the strictest control measures under the EU REACH Regulation: once a substance is on the authorisation list, importers, producers or downstream users are prohibited from placing it on the market or using it themselves within the European Union after the sunset date, unless they applied for an authorisation before the latest application date.