Helsinki, 20 June 2019 – ECHA’s Management Board has expressed its confidence in the plans to adjust the process for applications for authorisation. The Board also welcomed the joint action plan of ECHA and the European Commission to improve the compliance of REACH registrations.
“ECHA is investing a lot to improve these two critical processes for the future of REACH, in line with the recommendations of the second Commission review of REACH. For applications for authorisation, it has duly considered the recent Court cases, listened to the European Parliament and other stakeholders and taken their feedback seriously. As for REACH evaluation, the joint action plan paves the way to address the lack of compliance of many registration dossiers,” says Sharon McGuinness, the Chair of ECHA’s Management Board.
ECHA’s work on authorisation will be improved in three ways: Firstly, ECHA’s formats for applications for authorisation will require applicants to provide a substitution plan in their application if there are suitable alternatives available in general but they are not yet feasible for the applicant.
Secondly, ECHA will revise the opinion formats used by its scientific Committees for Risk Assessment (RAC) and for Socio-economic Analysis (SEAC). This is expected to also clarify the boundaries between scientific opinion making by ECHA’s committees and the decisions by the Commission. Finally, ECHA will standardise the opinion texts to help rapporteurs build up more consistent and concise opinions.
The Management Board also welcomed the joint evaluation action plan by ECHA and the Commission as “the right way to achieve a high degree of compliance with the legal requirements of REACH”. ECHA and the Commission will publish this plan early next week.
“The Board encourages the Agency to continue to work with its stakeholders, further improve these key processes and take action where necessary. We will be looking forward to receiving information on the progress of these improvement actions”, Ms McGuinness adds.
Management Board documents will be available on the Agency’s website in due course.
- Source: ECHA press release