ECHA Launches Public Consultation on Harmonized Classification for Two Chemicals
March 6, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
On Feb. 23, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) began the first public consultation on a proposal to harmonize the classification and labeling of two chemical substances:
- Epoxiconazole - a pesticide used in agriculture to control types of fungus.
- Diantimony trioxide - a chemical used as a flame retardant in plastics, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), rubber and textiles; as an additive in glass; and in the manufacture of pigments and paints.
Swedish authorities have submitted to ECHA comprehensive dossiers on these two substances and asked for their classification and labeling to be harmonized across the European Union (EU).
Comments will be gathered on the proposal over the next 45 days.
EU-wide harmonization
In line with the regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), ECHA's Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) will take all the comments into account when it forms its scientific opinion on the Swedish proposals.
The scientific opinion and any comments will be sent to the European Commission (EC). The EC, along with the REACH regulatory committee of representatives of the EU member states, will then decide whether the classification and labeling of epoxiconazole and diantimony trioxide will be harmonized across the EU.
If the classification and labeling of these two substances is harmonized, in the future, suppliers across Europe must classify and label them (on their own or in mixtures) in the specified way before placing them on the market.
Further proposals expected
The current consultation is the first one on harmonized classification and labeling after the 2008 adoption of the EU's regulation EC/1272/2008 on classification, labeling and packaging of substances and mixtures.
As ECHA's RAC committee is already reviewing new proposals from member states, it is expected that further consultations will follow, and these will all be handled in the same way.
Background
The European Chemicals Agency in Helsinki, Finland, manages the REACH regulation and the recently adopted EC/1272/2008.
Together, they form the foundation for ECHA - with the aim of protecting human health and the environment, and ensuring the competitiveness of European industry. An important means to achieving this goal is to provide information that ensures the safe use of chemicals.
Source: European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).