The European Commission recently published a research report on the overlap of the REACH regulation, assessing whether the REACH regulation overlaps with other relevant EU regulations and necessitates amendments. The report, totaling 428 pages, includes 38 practical action recommendations. Details are summarized below:
"Dual regulations"
Some regulations contain restrictions on specific substances or uses that are similar to or contradict the restrictions in Annex 17 of the REACH Regulation. For example, this is the case with the PCBs/PCTs Directive, the Toys Directive, and the Packaging Directive.
In response to this situation, the report recommends revising relevant regulations to avoid duplication or inconsistencies. It also suggests establishing a database of regulations restricting the use of specific substances for easy reference.
“REACH-exempt substances lead to a lack of risk assessment"
The report notes that substances exempted from REACH regulations include medical products, cosmetics, and plant protection agents or pesticides. This exemption leads to a lack of risk assessment. The root cause lies in the fact that safety assessments during product manufacturing, mixing, and waste management are not subject to specific departmental oversight. The report provides different revision recommendations for each industry's regulations addressing these risk assessment gaps.
"Multiple regulations lead to increased response costs'
In many cases, the documentation required by the REACH regulation does not comply with the relevant industry regulations, preventing companies from accurately calculating cost savings. The report recommends developing guidelines to address this issue.
"Complementarity between CLP and REACH regulations"
The study also found that Article 37 of Chapter 5 of the EU Chemicals Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulation (CLP) regarding the harmonized classification process is similar to Article 59 of the REACH Regulation. Therefore, the report recommends using a broader mechanism to include substances that comply with the CLP Regulation and are also covered by Article 57 of the REACH Regulation in the candidate list, thus eliminating the need for substance identification according to Article 59 of the REACH Regulation. Similarly, a similar approach is recommended for substances listed in Annex 6 of the CLP Regulation.
The report assessed a total of 155 EU regulations other than the EU REACH Regulation; the research will be included in the REACH Regulation review plan, which is to be conducted by the European Commission in accordance with Article 138(6) of the REACH Regulation, in order to avoid overlap with other relevant EU regulations, and to assess whether the REACH Regulation should be amended.
Source: Chemical Watch (Compiled by PIDC, 2012-05-04)
http://chemicalwatch.com/10989/european-commission-publishes-reach-scope-review
Research report on the overlap of REACH regulations
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/chemicals/files/reach/review2012/scope-final-report_en.pdf
