Recent calls from European countries and NGOs have prompted the European Commission and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to toughen compliance checks in the upcoming REACH regulation revision, particularly for non-compliant registration dossiers.
This push is fueled by updates from the 2019-initiated Joint Evaluation Action Plan (JEAP), which aims to identify data gaps and streamline chemical registration and review processes. Despite improvements, a June report highlighted that about 30% of cases still require national authority intervention, with processing times extending up to 14 months due to capacity limitations.
Country-Specific Recommendations
Germany suggests enhancing cooperation between ECHA and national agencies to prevent case backlogs and advocates for reevaluating compliance assessment methods, focusing on exposure and usage data.
Sweden prioritizes substances with CMR, PBT, PMT properties, and endocrine-disrupting characteristics, also emphasizing those with neurotoxic and immunotoxic effects.
Denmark supports a zero-tolerance policy, including revocation mechanisms to prevent market entry of non-compliant chemicals, aligning with the EU's Chemicals Sustainability Strategy despite delays in REACH amendments.
NGO Criticism and Suggestions
Organizations like the European Environmental Bureau and ClientEarth criticize the current compliance system as ineffective and resource-heavy. They propose empowering ECHA to revoke non-compliant registrations and suggest imposing fines on dossier owners to cover ECHA's additional efforts. They also urge public disclosure of companies under compliance scrutiny to encourage proactive legal compliance and protect reputations.
Looking Ahead
ECHA will maintain strict compliance monitoring, focusing on substances with endocrine-disrupting properties and those classified as PBT/PMT/vPvB/vPvM, updating standard information requirements. It will also monitor smaller quantity substances with significant market presence or usage.
Further Information
