In an article published on March 16, 2016 by regulatory news provider Chemical Watch, editor Geraint Roberts reports on the European Commission’s (EC) decision not to establish an EU register for nanomaterials. At a meeting of the EC’s Competent Authority Subgroup on Nanomaterials (CASG-nano), the Commission announced that instead of creating an EU nano register, it prefers listing existing information on nanomaterials on a public website. The EC has been weighing different options for increasing transparency on nanomaterial use in Europe in the scope of an impact assessment (FPF reported). The website or “observatory” shall be developed by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) under its 2015-2018 nanomaterials workplan. Further, the EC confirmed that changes in information requirements for nanomaterials under the European regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) will not be enacted before the 2018 registration deadline.
Non-profit organization Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL) expressed concern and frustration over the EC’s decisions stating that the Commission “manipulated the process, effectively ensuring that we would not get any information about nanomaterials coming onto the market for years.”
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Geraint Roberts (March 16, 2016). “Commission rejects idea of EU nano register.” Chemical Watch
