Brussels, 19/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - Six years after the adoption of REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals), the EU regulation which seeks to protect European citizens and the environment from exposure to dangerous chemicals, has not attained its goal. The reason for this is due to the failures of the EU Chemical Agency (ECHA), states a report published on Thursday 18 October. Jointly carried out by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and ClientEarth, the report entitled “Identifying the bottlenecks in REACH implementation: the role of ECHA in REACH's failing implementation”, reveals that the chemical industry has not provided the data required so that REACH might operate correctly. It also inveighs against ECHA for the role that it played in incorrect implementation of the regulation, due to the fact that it accepted incomplete registration of dossiers. In addition to denouncing such negligence, NGOs accuse ECHA of withholding information.
A registration audit undertaken by the NGOs between end 2011 and mid-March 2012, found fundamental flaws with the vast majority of substances registered under REACH. The report's author states: “REACH is based on two key legal principles - 'no data, no market' and 'one substance, one registration'. However, our research found that both of these are routinely ignored in the registration of substances”.
After accepting incomplete dossiers, ECHA subsequently failed to use its powers to ask registrants to properly complete and correct them. The resulting very poor quality dossiers including irrelevant information or empty fields which are not compliant with REACH requirements were therefore accepted by ECHA, which decided to grant registration numbers by default, the NGOs deplore.
“ECHA has already acknowledged that many substances have been inappropriately registered as intermediates by industry in order to avoid information requirements, but our investigation found that on top of this the industry has by and large failed to submit all available test data on substances, as required by REACH. However, ECHA is doing little to prevent industry from doing so and is complacent in its compliance checks. Furthermore, ECHA is dedicating too little time to work towards the substitution and phase out of hazardous chemicals which European citizens are exposed to every day”, comments Vito Buonsante of ClientEarth, who is co-author of the report.
Of even greater concern is the fact that 28 out of the 40 substances of very high concern reviewed have problems with their classification and labelling, which undermines the possibility for users to understand the health and environmental hazards of substances to which they are exposed. Moreover, the report points out, it is common for different companies to notify ECHA of different levels of classification for the same substances, for example benzophenone, contrary to REACH principles.
The NGOs are also critical of the fact that the ECHA is shrouded in secrecy - under pressure from the chemicals industry which claims “business confidentiality” as a means to prevent important information being released. The report finds that ECHA is not only failing in its responsibility to pro-actively disseminate information on chemicals but, more fundamentally, is withholding information which it has a responsibility to release in order to guarantee public safety and environmental protection. The NGOs find this situation of particular concern given that, on 11 October, the Court of Auditors found a number of shortcomings in relation to conflicts of interest (EUROPE 10708). The report can be consulted on line at the EEB website: http://www.eeb.org . (AN/transl.jl)