Issues
Chemicals Industry Regulatory Forum
This new joint Government/Industry body (it first convened in June 2004) is a response to the growing better regulation agenda.If you would like to know more, please contact the group secretary, Alastair East.
Chemicals Regulatory Forum - forward work programme November 2006 (54KB)
Evaluating the cumulative impact of safety, health and environmental regulation on the UK industrial coatings, aerosols and speciality chemicals sectors - executive summary (19KB)
Evaluating the cumulative impact of safety, health and environmental regulation on the UK industrial coatings, aerosols and speciality chemicals sectors (439KB)
Meeting notes from the 2004 CRF meetings can also be found on BERRs Freedom of Information website.[BERR became the Department of Business, Innovation and Science (BIS), June 2009]
Note of the Chemicals Regulatory Forum meeting of 28 April 2005 (77KB)
Note of the Chemicals Regulatory Forum meeting of 22 July 2005 (60KB)
Note of the Chemicals Regulatory Forum meeting 4 November 2005 (59KB)
Chemicals Regulatory Forum Meeting 24 February 2006 minutes and associated papers (34KB)
DEFRA and better regulation presentation (396KB)
Chemicals Regulatory Forum Meeting 4 May 2006 minutes and associated papers (32KB)
Local Better Regulation Office Presentation (20KB)
London Economics Presentation (15KB)
Chemicals Regulatory Forum Meeting 28 September 2006 minutes and associated papers (41KB)
HSE presentation: the challenges of regulating the chemical industry (3915KB)
Note of the Chemicals Regulatory Forum meeting of 8 May 2008 (21KB)
Chemicals Regulatory Forum forward work programme review May 2008 (18KB)
Note of the Chemicals Regulatory Forum meeting 9 October 2008 (209KB)
Report for the Chemical Regulatory Forum - Nanotechnology - Chemical Issues (154KB)
Report for the Chemical Regulatory Forum - Regulatory Framework with regard to Hazard vs Risk (161KB)
The Agenda for Regulatory Change in Scotland - presentation to the Chemical Regulatory Forum by Allan Reid, SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) (131KB)
Report for the Chemical Regulatory Forum - Waste - a chemical perspective (196KB)
Note of the Chemicals Regulatory Forum meeting - 21 October 2011 (PDF, 63 Kb)
Note of the Chemicals Regulatory Forum meeting - 27 January 2012 (PDF, 51 Kb)
REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals)
REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) is the EU Regulation on chemicals and other substances (e.g., metals), agreed by the Council and European Parliament on 18 December 2006. REACH entered into force on 1 June 2007.
REACH will primarily affect manufacturers and importers of chemicals and other substances covered by REACH (e.g. metals, minerals and ores). Companies will be required to submit to the new Helsinki-based European Chemicals Agency a registration package for all such substances manufactured or imported in the EU in quantities above 1 tonne each year. This registration package will provide details of the intrinsic properties of the substance and a risk assessment in relation to human health and the environment. (Annex I to the regulation sets out the details of risk assessment, and Annexes V to VIII their information requirements.) Registration will be phased-in over an 11 year period.
REACH places the onus on industry to provide information on an estimated 30,000 substances used in the EU, and strengthens the controls covering substances of most concern.
The registration scope of REACH replicates the scope of the existing EU chemical regulations that it replaces (in particular the Existing Substances Regulation and the Notification of New Substances provisions contained in the Dangerous Substances Directive).
REACH will also introduce an authorisation requirement covering the substances of most concern (e.g. carcinogens, or substances very harmful to the environment). A central aim of the authorisation requirement will be to seek safer alternatives where these are technically and economically viable.
Defra is the lead policy department for REACH, while HSE is the UK competent authority for REACH. BIS predecessor BERR (Chemicals Unit) worked in partnership with Defra throughout the REACH negotiations and now BIS is working with Defra and HSE on implementation.
The final-agreed text of the REACH regulation was published in the Official Journal on 30 December 2006.
HSE (UK Competent Authority) website on REACH: http://www.hse.gov.uk/reach/
CLP (Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures Regulation)
CLP is the EU regulation adopting the Globally Harmonised System (GHS). The regulation entered into legal effect on 20 January 2009, subject to a lengthy transitional period. The Regulation is direct-acting, requiring no national transposition. Its provisions will be phased in over a period of seven and a half years up to 1 June 2015. This is intended to help suppliers and users of chemicals change from the current EU classification and labelling system to the new GHS-based system.
The Regulation provides a transitional period to allow a gradual migration from the existing system to the new regime. These arrangements cover a transitional period of up to 7 ½ years from its entry into force. The Regulation will apply to the classification of substances from 1 December 2010 and to the classification of mixtures (formerly preparations’) from 1 June 2015.
The transitional period will end on 1 June 2015 when the CLP Regulation enters fully into force. On 1 June 2015 the CLP Regulation will replace fully the:
- Dangerous Substances Directive (67/548/EEC)
- Dangerous Preparations Directive (1999/45/EC)
Notification and notification deadlines
Notification is a new and very important duty in CLP. It is important that businesses understand what notification involves and, if they are required to notify substances, that it is done on time. If you already know about notification you can click on the CLP/Notify banner that will take you to the relevant website to submit your information.
The CLP Regulation requires manufacturers and importers to notify certain substances to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) for inclusion in the new Classification and Labelling Inventory.
Companies will need to know about notification if they carry out one or more of the following activities and places the involved substances or mixtures (preparations) on the market,
- Manufacture substances (including isolated intermediates) subject to registration in accordance with the REACH Regulation
- Imports substances (e.g. dye stuffs) subject to registration in accordance with the REACH Regulation
- Manufacturers or imports substances which area classified as hazardous, irrespective of the quantity involved
- Imports mixtures containing hazardous substances, irrespective of the quantity involved
- Imports articles containing substances which are subject to registration under REACH Article 7.
Further information and advice can be obtained from the UK Competent Authority website at www.hse.gov.uk/ghs/liveissues.htm and at the national CLP Helpdesk at UKREACHCA@hse.gsi.gov.uk. Detailed guidance is available from the ECHA website and its publication ‘Practical Guide on Notification’ can be found at http://echa.europa.eu/doc/publications/practical_guides/pg_7_clp_notif_en.pdf
Next Key event – 1 Dec 2010
ECHA’s Practical Guide states; “As a general rule, you must notify the classification and labelling of a substance within one month of placing it on the market on or after 1 December 2010. For importers, the one month delay is counted from the day when a substance, on its own or contained in a mixture, is physically introduced in the customs territory of the Community”.
The first working day in 2011 is 3 January. This means that the first notification deadline is 3 January, namely for all substances placed on the market on 1, 2 and 3 December 2010.
ECHA recommends that notifications are submitted from now on and well before 24 December 2010.
