In the Official Journal of the European Union 2025/1399 dated 14 July 2025, the European Commission published the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1399 to amend Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs Regulations) as regards perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds.
Substantial Changes
These are the changes to Annex I, Part A, to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 (as subsequently amended by Delegated Regulations (EU) 2020/784, (EU) 2021/115, (EU) 2023/866).
- In the table, the term “perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and its derivatives (PFOS)” is replaced by a more proper term: “perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), its salts and PFOS-related compounds”.
- In the table for entry ‘perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds’, the 4th column was amended as follows.
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Point
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Action
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Details
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3
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Deletion
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-
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4a
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Insertion
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For the purposes of this entry, Article 4(1), point (b), shall apply to concentrations of PFOA or any of its salts equal to or below 1 mg/kg (0.0001% by weight) and to concentrations of any individual PFOA-related compound or combination of PFOA-related compounds equal to or below 10 mg/kg (0.001% by weight) where they are present in fire-fighting foam for liquid fuel vapour suppression and liquid fuel fire (Class B fires) already installed in systems. This limit value shall apply until 3 August 2028.
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4b
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Insertion
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For the purposes of this entry, Article 4(1), point (b), shall apply to the sum of the concentration of PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds equal to or below 10 mg/kg (0.001 % by weight) where they are present in fluorine-free fire-fighting foam and originate from fire-fighting equipment which has undergone cleaning in accordance with the best available techniques.
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6
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Replacement
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The date ‘4 July 2025’ is replaced by ‘3 December 2025’.
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Addition (at the end)
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“Fire-fighting foam” means any mixture to fight fires with foam and includes but is not limited to fire-fighting foam concentrates and firefighting foam solutions to produce the foam.
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10
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Deletion
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The second sentence is deleted.
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11
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Newly Added Point
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Articles containing PFOA, its salts or PFOA-related compounds already in use in the Union before or on the date of expiry of the relevant exemption laid down in points 5(a) to (d) may continue to be used.
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Effective Date
04 August 2025, being the 20th day following the publication date of the Regulation in the Official Journal.
Reference
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L_202501399
