An exemption from the REACH, CLP or Biocidal Products Regulations may be granted for substances, mixtures, articles or processed articles that are imported, produced, manufactured or used for military equipment when such exemptions appear to be necessary in the interests of defence (Royal Decree of  March 2014 ).
   
This Royal Decree applies to the military equipment as mentioned under Category 2 in the annex to the RD of 8 March 1993  regulating the importation, exportation and transit of weapons, ammunition and material especially intended for military use or law and order enforcement use, and the related technology, excepted Category 2, section 1, A, point 19. 

Only national exceptions are concerned, therefore the procedure as described in the Royal Decree is to be submitted when the request for exemption is intended for use in Belgium.  
 
How should you submit the exemption dossier?

1. Language choices

The dossiers must be submitted in one of the official country languages, i.e. French, Deutch or German.

2. Administrative and technical aspects

The request dossier consists of two parts, an administrative dossier and a technical dossier.

- Administrative dossier:

The data to be mentioned in this dossier are defined in the Royal Decree of 2 March 2014.
Once filled in, please send this document to the Risk Management Service and the Defence Department.  (Addresses are mentioned in the technical dossier.)
 
- Technical dossier:

The technical dossier comprises a Defence file and a Risk Management file.

  • The Defence file must contain all the data needed to account for the necessity of an exemption in the interests of defence.  More information is available in the Royal Decree of 9 March 2014.
    The Defence file is to be submitted exclusively to the Defence Department.
    Service Défense, Département des affaires stratégiques
    Rue d’Evere 1, 1140 Brussels
    Email: DEF-REACH-DL@mil.be
 
  • The Risk Management file describes the risks and the prevention measures for public health, for the environment and for the workers, as well as an analysis of possible alternatives. Those prevention measures must ensure the same protection level as the measures taken pursuant to the REACH, CLP or Biocidal Products Regulations. 
    To achieve this, the file shall at least consist of a Safety Data Sheet according to the model set out in Annex XII of the REACH Regulation and a Chemical Safety Report according to the model set out in Annex I of the REACH Regulation, complemented if necessary for the exemption from the REACH Regulation, with an Annex XII documentfor downstream users under the REACH Regulation.
    FPS Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment,Service 'Maîtrise des risques'
    Avenue Galilee 5/2, B – 1210 BRUSSELS
    Service Center Health: +32 (0)2 524.97.97
    Email: defencexemption@health.fgov.be

    The Defence Department delivers a binding opinion on the Defence file. If the exemption is accepted, the Risk Management Service assesses the risks for public health and for the environment. The final decision is taken by the Minister who is competent for Defence and the Minister who is competent for Environment.

 
Fee to be paid 

The requestor must pay a fee (to be paid only once) of €750 (article 13/2 of the Royal Decree of 13 November 2011).
 
This amount must be transferred to the account number of the 'Fonds des matières premières' of the Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment (BPOST Banque - Brussels): 
IBAN: BE26 6792 0042 4329
The following communication should be mentioned: '[Defence] + art 13/2 + name of the company requesting the exemption'.

For payments made from outside Belgium, the specific bank codes are:
IBAN: BE26 6792 0042 4329
BIC : PCHQBEBB
FPS Public Health, Grondstoffen- Fonds matières premières, Av. Galilée 5, 1210 Brussels
 
The payment is made using an open money transfer form.  The Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment does not send any transfer form for such a request.