A new enforcement project on online sales will be carried out in 2020 under the umbrella of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) Forum. It will likely include restrictions and labelling duties. The report of the REF-5 project (REF stands for REACH-EN-FORCE) checking the safety of the working environment is under preparation.
This was one of the outcomes of the The Forum for Exchange of Information on Enforcement (Forum) 30th meeting, held on 19-20 June 2018 and its Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) Subgroup (BPRS) on 21 June 2018.
The eighth major Forum enforcement project (REF-8) will concentrate on online sales of substances, mixtures and articles. One reason for this focus is the high rate of non compliance detected in the Forum’s pilot project on internet sales. The detailed scope to be checked under REF-8 is yet to be defined. It is expected to include restrictions and labelling duties for hazardous chemicals. The project will be prepared in 2019 and carried out in 2020, with the report expected to be published by the end of 2021.
The Forum also agreed that inspections for the pilot project on authorisation focusing on chromium VI compounds and other substances will take place in 2020. This will allow inspectors to target more substances and give downstream users sufficient time to notify their authorised uses to ECHA. The inspectors will target companies that are using substances of concern without the required authorisation. Additionally, they will check that authorisation holders and their downstream users comply with the conditions of the authorisation decision.
During the meeting, Forum members also discussed the preliminary results of the REF-5 project on exposure scenarios, extended safety data sheets and the implementation of risk management measures and operational conditions. The aim of the project is to check communication in the supply chain and consistency of the extended safety data sheets with the content of the chemical safety reports. The project also looks at whether the risk management measures recommended in the exposure scenarios are actually implemented in the workplace. 29 countries participated in the project. A total of 898 inspections were carried out in collaboration between labour and environmental inspectors. The report is currently being prepared and its adoption and publication are foreseen for the end of 2018.
The results of the REF-5 project will be presented at the Forum-31 open session for stakeholders planned for 14 November 2018 in Brussels.