Certification Program “REACH FA 2026”
Formaldehyde Emissions from Wood-Based Materials According to EU Regulation (EU) 2023/1464
The voluntary certification program “REACH FA 2026” by EPH serves as a compliance verification tool for EU Regulation (EU) 2023/1464, adopted on 14 July 2023. This regulation amends Annex XVII of REACH (EC) No. 1907/2006 with a new entry 77 (formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing substances) and sets binding EU-wide limits for formaldehyde emissions from articles. To demonstrate compliance with REACH, the test conditions specified in Annex 14 must be met.
With the REACH FA 2026 program, EPH replaces the previous voluntary certification program E1 DE 2020, which was based on the German Chemicals Prohibition Ordinance. The new program provides a formal, ongoing, and REACH-compliant proof of conformity for wood-based materials and products made from them.
On 14 May 2025, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) published the official guidelines, “Guidelines for the measurement of formaldehyde releases from articles and formaldehyde concentrations in the interior of vehicles”, which form the basis for selecting suitable test methods and assessing compliance.
The new legal requirements become mandatory on 6 August 2026.
Scope and Emission Limits
The regulation defines different product categories with specific emission limits:
| Product category | Effective date | Limit value |
| Furniture and wood-based products | 06/08/2026 | 0,062 mg/m³ (0.05 ppm*) |
| Other articles | 06/08/2026 | 0,080 mg/m³ (0.065 ppm*) |
| Interior of road vehicles | 06/08/2026 | 0,062 mg/m³ (0.05 ppm*) |
*For technical purposes, these limits can also be expressed in ppm (parts per million), depending on temperature and air pressure, but the legally binding values in the EU are always in mg/m³.
Compliance with these limits is mandatory for all products placed on the European single market.
Exemptions include articles in which formaldehyde or formaldehyde-releasing substances occur naturally in the materials used (e.g., wood), articles intended exclusively for outdoor use, construction products used outside the building envelope that do not emit formaldehyde indoors, products intended solely for industrial or professional use without foreseeable public exposure, used road vehicles, articles already subject to other restrictions (e.g., biocides, medical devices, personal protective equipment), and articles intended to come into direct or indirect contact with food (Regulation (EC) No. 1935/2004).
Test Methods under REACH FA 2026
The EU guidelines define several methods for measuring formaldehyde emissions. Within the REACH FA 2026 certification program, a distinction is made between directly applicable and test methods with restricted applicability.
Directly applicable test methods comply with the reference parameters specified in the regulation and are fully suitable for conformity assessment. These include standards such as EN 717-1 and ISO 12460-1, as well as test procedures listed in Annex 14 of the REACH regulation.
Test methods with restricted applicability, such as EN 16516 or EN 16000-9, may also be used, but only if stricter testing conditions are applied and the test result is below the applicable limit value. If higher test results are obtained, a scientifically valid correlation to an Annex 14-compliant method (e.g. EN 717-1) must be demonstrated.
Additionally, the certification program may consider the requirements of IKEA specification IOS-MAT-0181.
Formaldehyde testing is conducted in the EPH Chemical Testing Laboratory, which is accredited according to DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025.
Overview of the certification program
