Chemicals agency finds REACH dossiers lacking
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)’s REACH evaluation report 2014, which can be downloaded from its website, shows a considerable share of the registration dossiers require improvement ahead of the 2018 deadline.
A total of 283 compliance check evaluations carried over from 2013 or opened during 2014 were concluded. Of these, 111 were concluded with no further action and 172 cases led to a draft decision, requesting more information from registrants.
Most of the information requests in were related to exposure assessment and risk characterisation, substance identity, pre-natal developmental toxicity studies, sub-chronic toxicity studies and physicochemical properties.
ECHA conducted 282 follow-up evaluations, examining whether registrants had provided the information requested in ECHA's decisions. In 72% of the cases, the evaluation could be completed as the registrant had complied with the decision.
Progress was made with substance evaluation process: ECHA published the first 26 decisions on substances for which evaluation started in 2012. The agency also sent out draft decisions to registrants for commenting for 38 substances which had been evaluated by the member states in 2013.
ECHA developed a new compliance check strategy in 2014. The agency now focuses on checking the quality of hazard, use and exposure information for those higher-volume substances having the biggest potential impact on human health and the environment.
