Solid turnout for REACH event
More than 500 companies met in Brussels last week to discuss REACH legislation and best practice. The event, jointly organised by the European Commission and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), brought together speakers from ten companies and associations to share their experiences in developing joint registration dossiers for their chemical substances.
Companies intending to register the same substance have to work together in a Substance Information Exchange Forum (SIEF) to share data on the hazards and safe use of the substance and to prepare a single registration dossier. According to the event organisers, data sharing is crucial if unnecessary testing (including animal testing) is to be avoided and costs to industry minimised. Furthermore, the Lead Registrant role is crucial in this process and Lead Registrants were urged by the speakers to “dare to share” and to submit their dossiers at least two months before the official deadline.
Companies were also informed about a series of targeted webinars which will take place around once a month between now and early summer 2010. The webinars will be run by experts from within ECHA and will be interactive.
Executive director of ECHA, Geert Dancet, thanked the participants, and particularly the speakers, for “stepping up to the plate and taking on this important, and hopefully rewarding, task on behalf of their fellow companies.” He added: “This is not an easy role and yet you are showing the way through your pragmatism and commitment to the ultimate aim of the protection of human health and the environment.”
