Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/368 of 23 January 2024 laying down rules for the application of Directive (EU) 2020/2184 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the procedures and methods for testing and accepting final materials as used in products that come into contact with water intended for human consumption

The procedures and methods for testing and accepting final materials as used in a product as provided for in Article 11(2), point (c), of Directive (EU) 2020/2184 on the quality of water intended for human consumption are set out in the Annexes I to IV.

For the purposes of this Decision, the following definitions apply: (1) ‘starting substance’ means a substance that has been intentionally added in the production of organic materials or of admixtures for cementitious materials; (2) ‘constituent’ means: any of the following: (a) a substance that has been intentionally used to manufacture a cementitious material; (b) an alloying element present in a composition of metallic materials; (c) an element or a combination of elements present in a composition of enamels, ceramic or other inorganic materials; (d) a substance present in a mixture of substances. (3) ‘product’ means an object that comes into contact with water intended for human consumption, which is made of final materials and with the intention to be placed on the market; (4) ‘assembled product’ means a product that consists of two or more components, that are joined together and function as a whole unit and can be disassembled without destroying the components; (5) ‘component’ means an identifiable part of an assembled product consisting of one or more materials; (6) ‘multilayer product’ means a product that consist of two or more layers of final materials bonded together and cannot be non-destructively disassembled for the testing; (7) ‘material’ means a solid, semi-solid or liquid that is used for the manufacturing of a product that is: (a) an organic composition prepared from one or more starting substances; or (b) a cementitious composition prepared from one or more constituents; or (c) a metallic, enamel, ceramic or other inorganic composition. (8) ‘organic material’ means a material that mainly consists of carbon-based substances; (9) ‘metallic material’ means a metal or metal alloy, and that is used either in bulk form or as metallic plating; (10) ‘cementitious material’ means a material that contains a hydraulic cement in sufficient proportion to act as the main binder by forming a hydrate structure which governs the performance of the material; (11) ‘enamel’ means a material that is a vitreous material obtained by melting at temperatures higher than 1200 °C and fritting of a mixture of inorganic substances; (12) ‘ceramic material’ means inorganic poly or single crystalline, non-metallic solid materials subjected to high temperature in manufacture; (13) ‘final material’ means a material which is subject to testing and acceptance in accordance with the testing requirements and acceptance requirements set out in the respective Annexes I, II, III and IV to this Decision; (14) ‘site applied material’ means a final material to be produced on a construction site; (15) ‘test piece’ means a representative object of the final material that is used for the carrying out of testing in accordance with the procedures and methods for testing set out in the respective Annexes I, II, III and IV of this Decision; (16) ‘unexpected substance’ means a substance that has migrated from a product, a final organic material or a final cementitious material into water intended for human consumption, that was not intentionally added during the production process of the material or product, and that was not included in the information provided in the application referred to in Article 11(5) of Directive (EU) 2020/2184; (17) ‘formulation’ means the list of all substances or constituents used in the preparation of an organic material or of a cementitious material and their relative quantities; (18) ‘total barrier’ means a barrier layer that prevents the diffusion of any substances towards the side of the final material in contact with the water intended for human consumption; (19) ‘enhancement of microbial growth (EMG)’ means the ability of final organic or cementitious materials to enhance the multiplication of micro-organisms under specified conditions; (20) ‘migration water’ means the test water that has been in contact with the test piece under the specified conditions set out in the respective Annexes I, II, III and IV.

This Decision shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall apply from 31 December 2026.