EU Commission opens public consultation on 12 substances proposed for addition to REACH Annex XIV authorization list, including 6 FCM-relevant substances; regulation set to be adopted in October 2019
ECHA to prioritize REACH enforcement
European Chemicals Agency asks national enforcement agencies to prioritize enforcement of REACH evaluation decisions; proposes to review all dossier hazard data for substances above 1 metric ton by 2027
NGO recommends REACH improvements
European Environmental Bureau publishes report reviewing the achievements, challenges, and recommendations following a decade of the EU’s chemical regulation REACH; calls for timely risk management of evaluated substances, improved transparency, and expanded registration checks
Pre-registration challenges in K-REACH
Consumer goods company Proctor and Gamble comments on challenges they face during registration under Korean chemicals legislation; highlights difficulty in obtaining data on chemical substances used and in joint registration of polymers
Resorcinol inclusion in CoRAP criticized
Guest column in Chemical Watch criticizes the inclusion of resorcinol in the Community Rolling Action Plan (CoRAP) for 2019-2021 to be assessed by France due to potential thyroid effects; points out to previously concluded evaluation by Finland, lack of remaining data gaps or new information to justify re-evaluation
REACH socio-economic analysis criticized
NGO ChemSec publishes report criticizing implementation of socio-economic analysis under REACH; argues social costs are mostly ignored while applicants only consider their own finances; calls for policymakers to discuss improvements
REACH data compliance needs improvement
European Chemicals Agency publishes annual REACH evaluation report; results show many chemical registrations continue to be missing key data
Too little regulatory follow-up in REACH
Report by NGO European Environmental Bureau finds over 70% of substances with completed REACH evaluations demonstrating concern for human health or the environment have not yet received any regulatory follow-up to manage risks
4-tert-butylphenol as SVHC
EU Commission plans to identify food contact substance 4-tert-butylphenol (PTBP) as substance of very high concern (SVHC) for endocrine disruption in the environment; intention notified to World Trade Organization
ECHA’s plan for substitution activities in 2019
European Chemical Agency plans to hold several substitution-related events, demonstrate alternatives analyses, publish alternatives data from authorization applications, update substitution strategy