On 14 July 2023, with the publication of Regulation 2023/1464, the European Commission adopted significant new measures to reduce formaldehyde emissions from a wide range of products, including wood-based panels and furniture.

As of 6 August 2026, as indicated by the Reich restriction, furniture and wood-based articles with formaldehyde emissions exceeding 0.062 mg/m3 (50 per cent of E1) will no longer be permitted to be placed on the market in EU countries. It is important to emphasise that the provision establishes as the new limit a value that is exactly half of the limit indicated at the time by the World Health Organisation (0.124 mg/m3), on which the well-known and well-established E1 classification is based, until now the standard recognised and legally adopted by many European countries, including Italy.

A limit of 0.08 mg/m3 will instead apply to other items such as textiles, leather, plastics, building materials and electronic products.

Three years to comply

For the first time, the sector has a precise 'guideline' from the European authorities which, unlike the E1 classification, will have to be compulsorily applied by all European countries, and will obviously also apply to imports.

Businesses in the sector will have three years to adapt, which is the time needed for the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to define, with the involvement of the associations and European companies involved, guidelines on test methods.

Uniformity at European level

This important change was the focus of a webinar, entitled 'Formaldehyde Emission from Products - New Limits in Europe from 2026', organised on 26 July by FederlegnoArredo and Catas for companies and operators in the sector. There were many questions from the more than 300 participants about how companies are ready to face this new challenge.

Omar Degoli, head of FederlegnoArredo's Environment and Circular Economy Office, explained how "the restriction on formaldehyde certainly has the merit of bringing uniformity back to the European level: companies already have compliant solutions available on the market for most products. It will be necessary to assess the time required for adaptation and stock rotation, so as not to arrive unprepared for the deadline".

"We hope," he added, "that equal rigour will be placed on surveillance and adequate controls so that products and semi-finished products imported into Europe from other countries also respect the new limits.

Concern for the healthiness of products

As always, Catas is strongly committed to informing and involving the entire industry in the important effects that this and other measures may have.

"We are already ready to measure product compliance with the new limits," commented Franco Bulian, director of Catas. "The guidelines that the authorities will define will soon allow us to also use so-called 'derived' methods, simplifying and facilitating companies in the necessary controls. One aspect that I would like to emphasise is that Europe has in fact defined such strict limits that the previous situation has been overturned: if before we were 'at fault' with respect to the more stringent American directives on the subject, now it is Europe that is imposing a new standard. Not only that: this new regulation shows how decisively Europe is moving in the direction of an ever more concrete focus on product healthiness. If we consider the recent provisions to reduce the use of de-cyanates in products such as adhesives and paints or what is being done about melamine, Europe's strong focus on safety issues that also involve our sector is evident'.