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 updates it twice a year. Every manufacturer and importer of articles must check the list at each update cycle. 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.
Common SVHCs found in batteries include cobalt (II) sulphate, lead compounds in lead-acid batteries, and certain lithium compounds currently under review by ECHA. The list changes. A substance not on the Candidate List today may be added at the next update, which is why the twice-yearly check is a live operational requirement, not a one-time exercise.
What the Battery Passport Requires: Material Composition Disclosure
The battery passport is a digital record attached to each battery via a QR code or similar data carrier. Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 requires it for industrial batteries above 2 kWh, electric vehicle batteries, and light means of transport batteries. The passport must be operational by February 2027 for EV and LMT batteries, with the exact date for industrial batteries subject to the delegated act adoption process.
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 updates the Candidate List twice a year, typically in January and July, 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 is triggered immediately. 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 economic operator responsible for the battery passport is the manufacturer, or the authorised representative where the manufacturer is outside the EU. Article 38 of the Battery Regulation sets out the general obligations for economic operators. The passport must be created before the battery is 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 about transparency for recyclers, second-life operators, and market surveillance authorities, not about 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. The Commission has not yet confirmed all data field specifications for every battery category. Requirements expected around 2027 and 2028 are pending delegated act adoption and may refine what the passport must contain.
The Enforcement Gap to Watch
Market surveillance authorities enforcing the Battery Regulation will check the battery passport. REACH enforcement, in most member states, sits with a different authority, often the national chemicals agency or the customs 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.
Both sets of authorities are increasing their activity. The Battery Regulation’s passport requirements take effect from February 2027 for EV and LMT batteries, with industrial battery requirements expected around 2027 or 2028, pending the relevant delegated act adoption. REACH enforcement is already active. Do not wait for one deadline to address the other.
If you are ready to build a battery passport that keeps your material composition data accurate and separate from your REACH obligations, visit traceable.digital/pricing to start a free trial. Traceable gives compliance and operations teams a structured way to manage both regimes without conflating them.
