ECHA reported on December 4, 2012 that the preliminary results of REACH-EN-FORCE-2 were presented to the participants of the 13th plenary meeting of the Forum, which took place from November 27 to 30, 2012 in Helsinki, Finland. The project looked at the obligations of formulators of mixtures and the quality of Safety Data Sheets (SDS). The Forum for Exchange of Information on Enforcement (Forum) coordinates a network of member state authorities responsible for enforcement.
ECHA says that the results highlight the serious efforts member states are taking to establish a harmonized approach to enforcement. 29 member states participated in the project with national inspectors carrying out approximately 1,200 inspections. 85% of the inspected companies were SMEs. The rate of companies submitting non-compliant SDSs was 52%; the rate of non-compliance with the (pre)registration obligations was 12%; while the rate of non-compliance with CLP notification obligations was 25%.
In the meeting, the Forum also endorsed the final report of the Interlinks Working Group that involved the opinions of national enforcement authorities, the member state competent authorities and ECHA. The outcome of the working group helps to further streamline the interactions between the authorities, according to ECHA. As the agency is gradually sending out more and more binding decisions resulting from its various regulatory processes, ECHA says that these interactions are increasingly important for the efficient and effective enforcement of REACH and CLP. The information exchange with national enforcement authorities is supported by RIPE (REACH Information Portal for Enforcement).
The Forum also established two new working groups to elaborate the Forum’s next multi-annual work program 2014-2016 and prepare the training for enforcement trainers in 2013. The next Forum plenary is planned for March 2013.
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