Judith Hackitt says: Prepare for Reach right now

An enforcer speaks

11 February 2008 00:00  [Source: ICB]

Don't make excuses - just get on with the job of implementing Reach, argues Judith Hackitt, head of the enforcing authority for Reach in the UK

Guest Columnist

Judith Hackitt, UK Health and Safety Commission

FOR SOME time now we have all been aware that one of the most important changes Reach implies is the shift to industry responsibility. It signals a move away from authorities doing the legwork in identifying potential risks associated with the use of chemicals. Instead, it requires producers to take responsibility for their products and uses throughout the supply chain.

This means that:

Because Reach is a regulation, not a European Directive, for the first time, businesses and regulators across Europe will be part of one integrated system.

European manufacturers and importers will be working centrally with a pan-European body, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), based in Helsinki.

ECHA will draw together advisers and representatives from enforcement agencies (known as Competent Authorities) and stakeholder groups from across Europe. This single body will make one decision about registration and, where needed, restriction and authorization of uses for any given substance.

For the process of registration and evaluation, there will be no direct link between the member state where substances are produced (or imported) and the Competent Authority assigned to that substance for assessment. It is perfectly possible that producers of a substance in Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal will find that the UK Competent Authority has been assigned to that substance for assessment purposes.

For the first time, the new system will address risks to both human health and the wider environment. Instead of the potential that exists today for competing/conflicting health and environmental requirements, Reach requires an integrated and single decision to be made where all factors have been taken into account.

The integrated system that Reach puts in place requires that every European country appoint a domestic Competent Authority to manage certain aspects of the new system. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has been asked to fulfill this role across the UK. The UK Competent Authority exists to:

Help industry understand what Reach means in practice

Give guidance on what businesses in the UK need to do to comply with the new system

Play its part in the process of monitoring the registrations and chemical safety reports of thousands of substances over the next 11 years.

But for the HSE, it doesn't stop there. Even though laws have been in place to manage chemical hazards for some time, notably those born of the Chemical Agents Directive, the amount of information shared with users about how they should go about controlling risks has often been very poor.

Reach will change that, ensuring businesses have much more information available to them to control chemical use. Enforcing the safe use of chemicals throughout the supply chain should become a much more effective process with Reach in place.

For the new process to operate effectively, it is important that industry behaves responsibly: it must not wait for regulators to lead. The success of Reach depends upon industry showing real leadership.

So I'd like to make a few points for you to ponder, as seen from the perspective of the Competent Authority/regulator:

Is your business communicating up and down the supply chain, developing relationships that will enhance business? These relationships need to be established now.

Downstream users can only prepare for Reach by knowing the registration intentions of upstream actors.

Registrants can only act to compile thorough registrations if they have a complete view of the uses being made of their substances.

Throughout, business decisions about Reach can't be made unless businesses thoroughly understand the value of the substances that a company relies on, which should be the result of a fully explored inventory of substances and their role in the profit-making activity of a business.

Reach was always going to be a huge challenge and matters are not helped by the continuing areas of uncertainty, but uncertainty cannot be used as a reason for inaction.

The technical guidance documents are lengthy and complex, as they also set out in detail how the regulation will operate, but remember that it is for industry to decide for itself within the context of that guidance how it wishes to proceed. The next step for industry must be to produce its own more accessible guidance.

Reservations have also been expressed about the preparedness of European regulators, and about the Reach-IT, which is fundamental to the operation of the system. Here again, concerns are valid. But this, and other as-yet unresolved issues such as participation in Substances Information Exchange Forums (SIEFs), the size of fees and the role of the Only Representative (used by exporters to Europe) should not be used as a reason to delay preparation for Reach.

Of course, these issues need to be tackled as matter of urgency but none of them is a reason to shy away from the immediate priorities.

These must be preparation for pre-registration (and registration), building relationships up and down the supply chain and horizontally, where SIEF participation is a possibility.

The ECHA is growing and active, and Competent Authorities and enforcers across Europe are meeting together, gearing up for the next phase of the entry into force of key Reach processes later this year and beyond.

The HSE is already running Reach awareness workshops throughout the UK, and will continue to offer advice and guidance to all parts of industry on what the new EU regulation requires - but it is also important that we recognize who is responsible for what.

We will:

Review registrations and undertake evaluations as and when they are assigned to us

Work in partnership with other Competent Authorities under the auspices of the ECHA to ensure consistency of interpretation and decision-making.

Integrate the output of Reach with existing UK regulations such as Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) to secure better compliance of effective chemical management throughout the supply chain.

It is for industry to take the lead and really demonstrate to all of its stake-holders that it can make the most if this unique opportunity to deliver responsible product stewardship.

The HSE continues to work with others across government and industry to raise awareness of the new system, and what it will mean for businesses and regulators.

 

Judith Hackitt is chairwoman of the UK's Health and Safety Commission. If you need advice on Reach, visit www.hse.gov.uk/ reach, or, for specific advice, call the Commission helpline on: 0845 408 9575

To read Paul Hodges' Chemicals and the Economy blog, go to: http://www.icis.com/blogs/chemicals-and-the-economy/

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