Enforcement authorities will check poison centre notifications

ECHA/NR/24/09

ECHA’s Enforcement Forum prepares a project to check if suppliers have notified hazardous chemical mixtures to the poison centres. The poison centre notifications allow appropriate emergency response. 

Helsinki, 25 March 2024 – The objective of the checks is to protect human health by enforcing the requirement that suppliers of chemicals notify information about hazardous mixtures to the national authorities. The national authorities make that information available to poison centres so that they can give advice to citizens or medical personnel in the event of an emergency. Poison centres must have correct information about hazardous mixtures to ensure that the emergency response is well informed and appropriate.

The inspectors will check that the notification has been submitted and verify labels of mixtures and – where needed – Safety Data Sheets. The exact scope of the checks will be defined in the coming months.

Inspections in this project will begin in January 2025 and continue for six months, with the project report to be published at the end of 2025.

New Online Sales Project in 2025

The Forum also agreed on the specific scope of the next harmonised enforcement project (REF-13) on online sales, for which inspections will start in 2025. Inspectors will check products sold online, if they contain substances restricted for use under the REACH and POPs regulations. These controls will also verify that mixtures are classified, labelled and packaged in line with the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation and will verify that the related information is provided online. Checks may also address compliance with restrictions defined in the Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) Directive. 

During the March meeting, the Forum and its biocidal products regulation subgroup (BPRS) members gave steer to other ongoing projects and exchanged information about enforcement initiatives on the national level. 

The Forum and the BPRS met remotely on 14-22 March 2024. The next meeting will take place in June 2024.

Background

The Enforcement Forum including its biocides subgroup (BPRS) is a network of enforcement authorities from the EU and EEA. They are responsible for coordinating the enforcement of the REACH, CLP, PIC, POPs and the Biocidal Product regulations with the aim of protecting our health and the environment while ensuring a level playing field for companies across the EU market.

Press contact: Mikko Väänänen, press@echa.europa.eu, +358 40 520 3513