Article 7 Testing of surfactants

All tests referred to in Articles 3 and 4 and in Annexes II, III, IV and VIII shall be conducted in compliance with the standards mentioned in Annex I.1 and in accordance with testing requirements under F1Article 13(4) of the REACH Regulation. For this purpose, it is sufficient to apply either the EN ISO/IEC standard or the principles of good laboratory practice, except for those tests for which the principles of good laboratory practice have been made mandatory. In cases where surfactants are used in detergents which were placed on the market before the entry into force of the above standard, existing tests that were performed using the best scientific knowledge available, and that were performed to a standard comparable to those of the standards mentioned in Annex I may be accepted on a case-by-case basis. The manufacturer F2... may submit to the F3Secretary of State any case over which there is doubt or dispute. F4...

F5For each case submitted, the Secretary of State must make a decision as to whether or not the relevant tests may be accepted. The Secretary of State must:

• — make a decision within 90 days of receiving the manufacturer's submission;

• — take appropriate expert advice and take that advice into account when coming to a decision;

• — after taking a decision, promptly communicate it to the manufacturer concerned together with an explanation of the appeal process set out below.

If the Secretary of State decides that the relevant tests may not be accepted, the manufacturer may, within 14 days of having that decision communicated to it by the Secretary of State, appeal to the court against that decision.

On appeal, the court may—

• — allow the appeal and rule that the tests may be accepted,

• — allow the appeal but rule that the tests may only be accepted if conditions specified by the court are fulfilled, or

• — dismiss the appeal.

(Article 18A makes further provision concerning appeals).