REACH enforcement project finds quarter of companies 'non-compliant'

Nearly a quarter of companies surveyed have been found not to be fully compliant with pre-registration requirements under the REACHⁱ chemicals regulation. Most non-compliance cases related to minor errors made during chemicals pre-registration or in the preparation of safety data sheets. Almost 1,600 companies were investigated between May and December of last year, and the enforcement project, which is designed to enforce the core ‘no data, no market’ principle of REACH, has now been extended to early 2011 in order to assess compliance with the first registration deadline of 30 November.

The REACH-ENⁱ-FORCE 2 project is currently being planned and will become operational in April 2011. This project will target formulators of mixtures, as a natural continuation of the first EU-wide enforcement project. Although the project is still being developed, it is likely to focus on downstream user obligations relating to compliance with REACH safety data sheet requirements and use-related duties.

A report on penalties applicable for infringement of the provisions of the REACH Regulation in the Member States can be found here: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/reach/pdf/report%20REACH%20penalties.pdf

The ECHAⁱ press release can be found here:
http://echa.europa.eu/doc/press/pr_10_10_FORUM_1_06_10.pdf