BRUSSELS — Member companies of the Titanium Dioxide Manufacturers Association (TDMA) as a part of a wider group of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) producers and users submitted an action in annulment to the General Court of the European Union against the harmonized classification of TiO₂ as a suspected carcinogen (cat 2.) by inhalation under the EU’s Classification and Labelling (CLP) Regulation.

The appeal challenges the legality of the classification adopted by the European Commission on Oct. 4, 2019, and requests its annulment.

The appeal states that there is no reliable, acceptable or available data to suggest that TiO₂ causes cancer. It claims that the classification was adopted in breach of the Commission’s duty of care and several principles of EU law, including the principles of legal certainty, proportionality and the right of interested parties to be heard.

The decision of the General Court is expected to take two to three years and therefore will be after the classification comes into force on Oct. 1, 2021. In the meantime, TDMA and its members will focus on finding a way to implement the regulation from that date despite the uncertainties of the classification.

TDMA represents major producers of TiO₂ and has represented them in Europe since 1974.