EU Enforcement Project to Check REACH Registrations in 2019

EU national enforcement authority (NEA) inspectors will focus on registration obligations –including substances registered as intermediates – under the seventh REACH enforcement project (Ref-7).

They will check whether companies that need to register substances on their own or in mixtures after the last registration deadline in 2018 have a valid registration (Articles 6 and 7 of REACH).

"We will be looking at registrations of smaller tonnages, but might not limit ourselves to only checking 'new' registrations submitted in 2018," Echa's Enforcement Forum chair Katja vom Hofe (pictured) told Chemical Watch after the forum's 21-22 June meeting. "Instead, we might assess registrations from higher tonnage bands that have been submitted before."

In addition to checking full registrations, inspectors will examine intermediate registrations (Articles 17 and 18 of REACH) to see whether substances registered as intermediates fulfil the necessary requirements – that a substance is only manufactured and used under strictly controlled conditions according to Article 17 (3), for example.

They will also check imported chemicals in cooperation with customs authorities in the member states.

The project will start at the beginning of 2019 and run for one year. It will be followed by a one-year reporting period.

Authorisation pilot

The Forum has decided to conduct a third pilot project on authorisation in 2019. This will check whether companies that are using Annex XIV substances, or marketing them, have the required authorisation.

The recent report of the second authorisation pilot said about 90% of European companies are in compliance with their REACH authorisation obligations. The authorities took legal action against 13 companies for failing to meet them.

Ms vom Hofe said the Forum will look at some of the most commonly used substances to see if companies are fulfilling their authorisation obligations.

The project will start at the beginning of 2019 and is slated for completion that June. The report should be ready by the end of the year.

Joint action on SDSs

The Forum has also launched its first joint action agreement with its accredited stakeholder organisations (ASOs) – trade bodies and NGOs – to improve the quality of safety data sheets (SDSs). This was floated at the last Forum meeting in April.

Representatives from the ASOs will join the Forum's working group, which will be set up in mid-July to draft an action plan, Ms vom Hofe said. The Forum will identify the most common deficiencies and together with the ASOs will jointly develop ideas for best practice to address these. Once the plan is agreed, stakeholders will be asked to communicate and implement the measures, Ms vom Hofe said.

The Forum also heard a presentation by Jonathan Küster from Echa's substance identity and data sharing unit on enforcing the implementing act on data sharing.

He said if breaches of obligations for joint submissions cannot be solved, Echa may revoke the registration, as it fails the one substance one registration (Osor) principle. NEAs should be aware that Echa will inform them of such cases so that they can follow up to ensure the companies are no longer using the substance.