France may keep banning the placing on the market and installation of wood treated with creosote and related substances — the Commission extends its authorisation until 7 June 2028 (Decision (EU) 2026/1377)
Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1377 of 11 May 2026, published on 18 June, amends Decision (EU) 2019/961: the period during which France may apply its provisional measure under Article 129 of REACH is extended from 59 to 108 months, i.e. until 7 June 2028. It applies retroactively from 8 May 2024, because the previous authorisation expired before the Commission completed the amendment of entry 31 of REACH Annex XVII.
- A French order of 18 December 2018 banned, from 23 April 2019, the placing on the market and installation of wood treated with creosote (CAS 8001-58-9) and the eight substances of entry 31 of REACH Annex XVII — including creosote oil, anthracene oil, wood creosote and coal tar distillates — as well as the reuse of such wood, regardless of when it was treated. Railway sleepers are exempted.
- It was based on an exposure assessment: for outdoor wood in contact with soil or installed in fresh or salt water, estimated exposure exceeded the predicted no-effect concentrations (PNEC), while for railway sleepers, which touch neither soil nor water, it did not. The 2019 decision also found the other eight substances similar to creosote in chemical, toxicological and ecotoxicological profile.
- France submitted an Annex XV dossier to ECHA on 7 October 2022, and the RAC and SEAC committees sent their opinions to the Commission on 31 January 2024. The Commission is preparing an amendment of entry 31; France proposed, and both committees supported, that the new restriction apply 12 months after entry into force — the extension is meant to cover that period too.
- For laboratories this means that testing reclaimed wood and wood products for creosote and the eight related substances may be needed in France to check compliance with the national ban at least until mid-2028, while the whole EU awaits the new wording of REACH entry 31.