Government Decision No. HG578/2025 validating the Sanitary Regulation on materials and substances that come into contact with drinking water and testing methods.

This Government Decision approves the Sanitary Regulation on materials and substances that come into contact with drinking water and the related testing methods. The Regulation aims to ensure the effective functioning of the internal market for products, materials, chemical substances/mixtures and equipment intended to contact drinking water, while safeguarding public health and maintaining drinking water quality parameters. The Regulation lays down minimum hygiene requirements for materials used in new, repaired or reconstructed installations for abstraction, treatment, storage and distribution of drinking water. Such materials must not directly or indirectly endanger human health, adversely affect colour, odour or taste, favour microbial growth, or release contaminants above levels necessary for their intended purpose. It provides that positive lists of initial substances, compositions or constituents for organic, cement-based, metallic, enamel, ceramic and other inorganic materials are to be approved by order of the Minister of Health and regularly updated in line with EU implementing rules. Detailed annexes establish risk-based testing and acceptance procedures for organic, metallic, cement-based, enamel, ceramic and other inorganic final materials, including migration tests for relevant and unexpected substances, total organic carbon, organoleptic parameters, turbidity, and enhancement of microbial growth, as well as mathematical modelling options and criteria for acceptance or rejection. The text also regulates notification and authorization procedures for economic operators placing on the market materials, chemical substances/mixtures, products and equipment in contact with drinking water. It specifies the content of the notification form and accompanying technical documentation, including composition, CAS numbers, purity certificates, test reports from accredited laboratories, safety data sheets, declarations of conformity, and labelling samples. A specific marking regime is introduced: products suitable for contact with drinking water must bear a prescribed symbol and the wording “ADECVAT PENTRU APĂ POTABILĂ”, with defined size, visibility and language requirements for products, packaging and documentation. The National Agency for Public Health is designated to control compliance through official controls and to apply measures under existing health and control legislation in cases of non-compliance or false or misleading information.