ECHA Clarifies Policies for REACH Compliance, Enforcement Activities
July 21, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) issued a statement on July 14, clarifying that it is not its policy to actively contact companies to verify whether their business practices are in compliance with the regulation for REACH - Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals.
Over the past few weeks, enquirers alerted ECHA to market behavior of companies advertising REACH-related services and/or actively hampering the formation of substance information exchange forum (SIEF).
ECHA was asked to clarify whether this behavior may possibly constitute a violation of the terms and conditions of REACH-IT or a breach of obligations imposed by the REACH regulation.
ECHA clarified that enforcement of REACH lies with the member states of the European Union (EU). ECHA has and will only act in exceptional cases that directly fall into its remit, such as incorrect and misleading statements concerning ECHA's activities, breaches of the terms and conditions of REACH-IT or infringements of ECHA's intellectual property rights.
In general, ECHA reminded companies to carefully ensure that their market behavior is in line with the legal requirements of the REACH regulation. Failure to do so may lead to enforcement actions or even legal proceedings brought by other companies that were misled by these actions.
ECHA also invited companies to regularly consult ECHA's guidelines and recommendations, available on its web site.
Source: European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).