In accordance with the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH), the Commission presents a report on the operation of the Regulation. The report also contains information on the functioning of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 (CLP Regulation).
Human health and the environment: whilst it is still too early to quantify the benefits, the Commission states that overall, progress towards meeting the human health and environment objective of REACH is materialising, and will accelerate as the remaining key benefit drivers become fully operational. However, the Commission notes some key shortcomings which may hinder achievement of the benefits:
· many registration dossiers have been found to be non-compliant, including with regard to substance identity;
· insufficient assessments by registrants of persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) and very persistent, and very bioaccumulative (vPvB) properties;
· problems with regard to the content and format of the extended safety data sheet.
ECHA identified three broad areas for improvement in the operation of REACH and the CLP Regulation:
· industry needs to work on the quality of registration dossiers;
· effective communication through the supply chain of information on substances and how to use them safely needs further attention;
· limited resources demand effective prioritisation of substances for further consideration in the REACH and CLP processes. Further use of registration information should be facilitated in order to best focus authorities resources towards safe use of substances.
Enforcement: enforcement is the sole responsibility of the Member States and all of them have nominated enforcement authorities. The Commission wants Member States to maximise the effectiveness of available resources through better coordination and knowledge sharing. It will develop enforcement indicators and calls on Member States to monitor the effectiveness of enforcement.
The enforcement of CLP is closely related to the enforcement of REACH, both facing similar challenges. The total number of inspections concerning particular products and individual duty holders has steadily increased over the last three years. In terms of issues identified where further improvements are necessary;
· compliance with the legal requirements could be substantially improved, since generally the compliance rates amounted to 70% ; and
· reporting by Member States needs further harmonisation.
Compared with situation before the CLP Regulation was adopted, the Commission and all Member States are now regularly updated on enforcement activities and compliance rates. This will allow enforcement activities to focus on problematic areas and the development of joint enforcement strategies.
Scope of REACH: overall, the Commission is of the view that the scope of REACH was set well and no major overlaps with other EU legislation have been identified. Nonetheless, it discusses the minor overlaps which were identified and adds that it has also identified certain areas where information generated under REACH processes could be used in the context of EU sector-specific legislation requirement.
Amendments: some needs for adjustments have been identified, but balanced against the interest of ensuring legislative stability and predictability, the Commission concludes that changes to the enacting terms of REACH will not be proposed.