Correction, 3 September 2026. Under Article 77(1) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, the battery passport requirement applies from 18 February 2027 to LMT batteries, industrial batteries with a capacity greater than 2 kWh, and electric vehicle batteries. The capacity threshold applies only to industrial batteries. Article 77(1) fixes 18 February 2027 as the application date directly, and the date is not among the matters Article 77 permits the Commission to modify.
An earlier version of this article stated that industrial battery requirements were “expected around 2027 or 2028, pending the relevant delegated act adoption”, and its FAQ stated that the exact date for industrial batteries above 2 kWh was “not yet confirmed”. Both were incorrect. The FAQ structured data on this page has also been corrected. If you deferred a compliance-preparation decision on the basis of the earlier framing, please revisit it now against the 18 February 2027 date.
Manufacturers selling batteries into the EU face two distinct sets of chemical disclosure rules. The first comes from Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH). The second comes from Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, the Battery Regulation, which introduces the battery passport. Understanding REACH and battery passport obligations as two parallel regimes, not one combined system, is the starting point for getting your compliance programme right.
What REACH Requires: The SVHC Communication Duty
Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs) are defined under Article 57 of REACH. The category covers carcinogens, mutagens, reproductive toxicants, persistent bioaccumulative and toxic substances, and other substances of equivalent concern identified by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).
ECHA maintains the SVHC Candidate List and usually updates it twice a year. Because obligations can arise as soon as a substance is added, suppliers of articles need to check the list at each update. If a substance on the Candidate List is present in your article above 0.1% weight by weight, Article 33 of REACH requires you to communicate that information to the recipient of the article. At minimum, you must provide the substance name. The purpose is to give the recipient enough information to use the article safely.
Article 33 also gives consumers the right to ask whether a product they have bought contains a Candidate List substance above that threshold. You must respond within 45 days.
Candidate List substances relevant to batteries include cobalt(II) sulphate, listed since 15 December 2010, and lead, listed since 27 June 2018, together with several lead compounds. The list changes. A substance not on the Candidate List today may be added at the next update, which is why checking at every update is a live operational requirement, not a one-time exercise.
Readiness Assessment
Find out if your operation is ready for EU DPP compliance.
Five questions, about two minutes. You get a score for each area and a numbered action plan for the gaps.
Score Your ReadinessWhat the Battery Passport Requires: Material Composition Disclosure
The battery passport is an electronic record for each battery, accessible through the QR code required by Article 13(6) (Article 77(3)). Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 requires it for industrial batteries above 2 kWh, electric vehicle batteries, and light means of transport batteries. From 18 February 2027, each LMT battery, each electric vehicle battery, and each industrial battery with a capacity greater than 2 kWh placed on the market or put into service must have one. Article 77(1) sets that one date for all three.
Annex XIII of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 sets out which data is accessible to which parties. Point 1 of Annex XIII covers information that must be publicly accessible. Annex XIII 1(b) requires the material composition of the battery, including the chemistry, hazardous substances present other than mercury, cadmium, or lead, and critical raw materials.
Annex VI Part A, which is incorporated into the passport by Annex XIII 1(a), sets the threshold for critical raw materials at 0.1% weight by weight, as specified in Annex VI Part A point 10.
The battery passport does not require an SVHC declaration. The hazardous substances field in Annex XIII 1(b) covers substances other than mercury, cadmium, and lead, but this is a material composition disclosure requirement under the Battery Regulation. It is not a mechanism for fulfilling your REACH Article 33 duty, and it does not replace it.
REACH and Battery Passport Obligations: Where the Confusion Starts
Both regimes use a 0.1% weight by weight threshold. Both involve hazardous substances. Both require disclosure to downstream parties. These surface similarities lead many compliance managers to assume that filling in the battery passport’s hazardous substances field satisfies their REACH Article 33 duty, or vice versa. Neither assumption is correct.
The legal basis is different. REACH Article 33 is a supply chain communication obligation under a chemicals regulation. The battery passport hazardous substances field is a product data requirement under a product regulation. They are triggered by different conditions, enforced by different authorities, and serve different purposes.
The format is also different. REACH Article 33 requires, at minimum, the substance name, plus enough information for safe use. The Battery Regulation does not specify a CAS number and concentration range format for the passport’s hazardous substances field. Do not assume that what you put in the passport satisfies the REACH communication requirement, or that your REACH safety data sheet process automatically populates the passport correctly.
For a detailed breakdown of how REACH obligations interact with digital product passport data fields, see our guide to REACH SVHC requirements for product passports.
The Candidate List Problem: Timing Mismatches
ECHA usually updates the Candidate List twice a year, though the exact dates vary. The battery passport, once issued, contains a snapshot of material composition data at a point in time. If ECHA adds a substance to the Candidate List after your passport was generated, your REACH Article 33 duty applies from the date of inclusion. Your battery passport data is not automatically updated.
This creates a timing mismatch that your compliance process must account for. You need a monitoring workflow that checks each ECHA update against the substances present in your batteries. When a new SVHC is confirmed, you must update your Article 33 communication to customers and, separately, assess whether your battery passport data needs to be revised under the Battery Regulation’s accuracy requirements.
These are two separate actions. One is a REACH obligation. The other is a Battery Regulation obligation. Running them as a single process risks missing one or the other.
Who Is Responsible for Each Obligation
Under REACH Article 33, the obligation falls on the supplier of the article. In a battery supply chain, this typically means the battery manufacturer or the importer placing the battery on the EU market. The obligation runs to the immediate recipient and, on request, to consumers.
Under Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, the battery passport duties in Article 77(3) and (4) fall on the economic operator placing the battery on the market. For a battery made outside the EU, that is the importer (Article 3(1), point (64)), not the authorised representative, whose mandate covers only the manufacturer’s obligations under Chapters IV and VI (Article 3(1), point (63)); the passport is in Chapter IX. That operator attributes the passport’s unique identifier and keeps its information accurate, complete and up to date. The passport must exist from 18 February 2027 for every in-scope battery placed on the market.
In many cases, the same legal entity carries both obligations. But the internal processes that fulfil them are different. Your REACH compliance team and your product data team need to coordinate, but they are answering to different legal requirements.
What Goes in the Passport and What Goes in the REACH Communication
The battery passport’s Annex XIII 1(b) field for hazardous substances requires disclosure of substances present in the battery other than mercury, cadmium, and lead. Mercury, cadmium, and lead are handled separately under the Battery Regulation’s restrictions in Article 6. The passport field is public product information about the battery model, not safe-use communication in the REACH sense.
Your REACH Article 33 communication, by contrast, is specifically about Candidate List substances above 0.1% weight by weight, and it must give the recipient enough information to use the article safely. The substance name is the minimum. In practice, most suppliers provide more detail, including concentration ranges and safe handling guidance, but the Battery Regulation does not specify this format for the passport.
A substance can appear in both disclosures. Cobalt(II) sulphate, for example, is on the SVHC Candidate List. If it is present in your battery above 0.1% weight by weight, you must communicate that under REACH Article 33. You may also need to include cobalt compounds in your battery passport’s material composition data under Annex XIII 1(b). These are two separate entries in two separate documents or systems, triggered by two separate legal requirements.
Practical Steps to Keep the Two Regimes Separate and Complete
- Map every substance in your battery against the current ECHA Candidate List. Do this at every update cycle, not just at product launch.
- For each Candidate List substance above 0.1% weight by weight, prepare an Article 33 communication that includes at minimum the substance name and enough information for safe use. Send it to your direct customers and make it available to consumers on request.
- Separately, compile your battery passport material composition data as required by Annex XIII 1(b) and Annex VI Part A point 10. This covers chemistry, hazardous substances other than mercury, cadmium, and lead, and critical raw materials above 0.1% weight by weight.
- Do not use the battery passport as your REACH Article 33 communication vehicle. The passport is a product data record. The Article 33 communication is a supply chain safety obligation.
- Assign clear ownership. Decide which team owns the ECHA Candidate List monitoring process and which team owns battery passport data accuracy. Document the handoff between them when a new SVHC affects a substance already in the passport.
- Check the delegated acts under Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 as they are adopted. Delegated acts under Article 77(2) may amend Annex XIII and refine what the passport must contain. They do not change the 18 February 2027 date in Article 77(1).
The Enforcement Gap to Watch
Market surveillance authorities enforcing the Battery Regulation will check the battery passport. REACH enforcement may sit with a different national authority. A battery passport that passes inspection does not mean your REACH obligations are met. Conversely, a solid REACH compliance file does not mean your battery passport is complete.
The Battery Regulation’s passport requirements take effect on 18 February 2027 for electric vehicle batteries, LMT batteries and industrial batteries above 2 kWh alike. Article 77(1) sets one date for all three. REACH Article 33 already applies. Do not wait for one deadline to address the other.
To see how Traceable could handle this for your products, register for a free trial.
