REACH Compliance for Textile Exporters: What You Actually Need to Declare

REACH stands for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals — and unlike OEKO-TEX, it isn’t optional. It’s EU law, and it applies to every textile product sold in the EU regardless of where it was manufactured.

What REACH actually restricts

REACH maintains a list of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) and restricts or bans specific chemicals in consumer products above defined concentration thresholds — commonly 0.1% by weight for SVHC declaration purposes. For textiles, the substances most relevant to exporters typically include certain azo dyes that release carcinogenic amines, specific flame retardants, formaldehyde above set limits, and increasingly, PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) used in water-repellent finishes.

REACH vs OEKO-TEX: not the same thing

REACH is a legal restriction that applies to every product sold in the EU — there’s no certificate for "being REACH compliant," only the legal obligation to be so and the ability to be checked. OEKO-TEX Standard 100 is a voluntary, paid, third-party certification that tests for many of the same substance categories and gives you a certificate as evidence — useful as supporting documentation for a REACH declaration, but it doesn’t replace the legal obligation itself.

What a REACH compliance statement should actually say in your DPP

• A clear statement that the product has been assessed against the current REACH restricted substances list
• Reference to supporting test reports or certifications (OEKO-TEX or an accredited lab test), where available
• Specific declaration on SVHC content above 0.1% — including "none above threshold" as an explicit, checkable statement rather than silence
• A date — REACH’s restricted substances list is updated periodically, so an undated declaration is hard for a buyer to trust