EU publishes second REACH Review and your interface with Occupational Safety and Health, by Jairo Andrade Junior, C&J Consulting, Chemical Engineer

The European Commission has published its report on the second REACH Review.

Originally planned to June 2017, it was published in March 2018 and established 16 actions to improve the implementation of the Regulation.

However, it does not propose any major legislative changes.

In this, its second five-year review of the Regulation, the Commission says that REACH is effective and is addressing today’s citizens’ concerns about chemical safety.

However, opportunities for further improvement, simplification and burden reduction have been identified.

According to the Review, which consists of a 12-page communication and a staff working document, the issues requiring most urgent action are:

? non-compliance of registration dossiers;

? simplification of the authorisation process;

? ensuring a level playing field with non-EU companies through effective restrictions and enforcement; and

? clarifying the interface between REACH and other European legislation, in particular that on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) and on waste.

Top of the Commission’s 16 actions is to encourage companies to update registration dossiers. The Commission's 16 actions to review REACH are:

· Action 1: Encourage registration dossier updates

· Action 2: Improve evaluation procedures

· Action 3: Improve workability and quality of extended safety data sheets (extended SDS).

· Action 4: Better tracking of substances of concern in the supply chain

· Action 5: Promote substitution of SVHCs (Substances of Very High Concern).

· Action 6: Simplify the authorisation process

· Action 7: Provide early socio-economic information for possible regulatory measures

· Action 8: Improve the restriction procedure

· Action 9: Further enhance member state involvement in the restriction procedure

· Action 10: Frame the application of the precautionary principle

· Action 11: Greater interplay between authorisation and restriction

· Action 12: Remove overlaps in REACH and OSH (Occupational Safety and Health) legislation interface

· Action 13: Enhance enforcement

· Action 14: Support SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) compliance

· Action 15: Address fees and the future of ECHA (European Chemical Agency)

· Action 16: Review registration requirements for low tonnage substances and polymers

European Chemical Agency (ECHA) has long advocated reform in this area and the failure to propose any immediate and decisive action will come as a disappointment.

In June 2017, agency said it should be normal for companies to do this at least every five or ten years. A change to the Regulation could ensure companies take their job seriously. And in September 2017 an Echa-commissioned report called for mandatory periodic deadlines on REACH dossier updates.

However, in its Review the Commission says that in collaboration with ECHA, member states and industry, it will identify why registrants are not updating their dossiers and make proposals for improvements by the first quarter of 2019.

It has also requested that Echa significantly increase the efficiency of the evaluation procedures by 2019. This, it says, could be done by:

? developing accions for reasons behind non-compliance;

? systematically implementing a grouping approach, where possible;

? improving the way evaluation activities are shared with member states; and

? improving decision-making procedures.

A recent report on ten years of REACH evaluation has revealed the extent of the problem of data gaps in dossiers. It more than two-thirds failed compliance checks.

The Commission has listened to NGOs’ (Non-Governmental Organizations) calls to improve control on chemicals.

The Commission has requested that Echa, systematically, considers preparing a restriction dossier before the sunset date of each substance subject to authorization and present in articles in accordance with Article 69(2). This will please many in European industry as it puts them on a level playing field with firms outside the EU, which export such chemicals into Europe.

It has also asked the agency to identify relevant cases for restriction as part of its regular screening activities, and to consider substances for which national legislation and not EU legislation exists.

Meanwhile, the Commission says it will continue to identify suitable cases for restricting carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic substances in consumer articles through a simplified procedure, according to Article 68(2).

Additionally, alongside the agency it will work with member states to further simplify the submission requirements and increase member state capacities to develop dossiers for new restrictions. Further, the Commission will provide "constructive solutions", such as encouraging joint dossiers prepared by several member states in cooperation with ECHA.

The Commission has addressed industry’s criticism of the burden of the authorization process. It says it will continue to make it more workable for operators, including for SMEs. It would do this, it added, by simplifying applications for continued use of SVHCs in legacy spare parts and further considering the case of low-volume applications this year.

It will closely monitor, and address difficulties related to applications for authorization covering multiple operators, it said. It will also reduce fees for applicants in joint applications.

ECHA is already working on many of the areas identified in the report and that its input comes at a good time as we are currently shaping our future strategy.

The first REACH Review, covering the initial five years of the Regulation, since entry into force in 2007, was expected in June 2012 but was not released until February 2013. It called for better registration dossiers and reduced burden on SMEs.