Article 52 — Opinions from ECHA

1. For the purposes of Article 49(6), ECHA shall provide opinions to the Commission on the presence in toys of substances or mixtures that are prohibited pursuant to Part III, point 4, 5 or 6, of Annex II, where a request for an assessment is submitted to it in accordance with Article 51(1). ECHA shall assess in its opinions whether the criteria set out in Part III, point 10, points (a) and (b), of Annex II are met for a specific use. 2. ECHA may request the person submitting the request for assessment or any third party to submit additional information within a specified period. ECHA shall take into account any information submitted by third parties. 3. The opinions referred to in paragraph 1 shall be sent to the Commission and made publicly available in an easily accessible and user-friendly manner within a period of 12 months from the receipt of the request for an assessment. 4. The period referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article may be extended once by a period of up to 6 months if ECHA needs to request information from a third party or if a high number of requests for assessment are submitted to ECHA pursuant to Article 51(1). 5. ECHA shall re-evaluate its opinions on the presence in toys of substances or mixtures listed in Part C of the Appendix to Annex II at least every 5 years from the date of entry into force of a delegated act adopted in accordance with Article 49(6). For the purposes of carrying out this re-evaluation, ECHA shall request the person submitting the original request to provide within a specified period the necessary information and documentation demonstrating that the conditions justifying the presence of the substance in toys set out in Part III, point 10, of Annex II continue to be met. ECHA may also request any third party to submit additional information within a specified period. 6. The Commission shall request an opinion from ECHA on the presence in toys of substances or mixtures listed in Part C of the Appendix to Annex II as soon as new scientific information or technological progress that may affect the permitted use of a specific substance or mixture in toys becomes known to the Commission. 7. For the purposes of Article 49(7), the Commission may request an opinion from ECHA on the safety of a specific substance or mixture in toys, which shall take into consideration the overall exposure to the substance or mixture from other sources and the known additional hazards from the combined exposure to the different substances and mixtures present in the toy, as well as the vulnerability of children. 8. When preparing an opinion in accordance with this Article, ECHA shall make publicly available the information on the start of the assessment, the adoption of the opinion as well as any intermediate steps in the assessment procedure. In particular, ECHA shall make the draft opinions publicly available and provide an opportunity for any interested party to comment on those opinions within a period of at least 4 weeks.