Authorisation obligations and recovered substances in the scope of two Forum enforcement projects

ECHA/NR/21/06

The first will check whether substances of very high concern (SVHCs) placed on the EU market have been granted authorisation. The second is a pilot project focusing on exemptions from the duty to register substances recovered from waste.

Helsinki, 22 January 2021 – The Forum’s ninth coordinated REACH enforcement project (REF-9) on authorisation obligations has started. It involves all 30 EU and EEA countries, with inspectors checking whether duty holders comply with REACH authorisation requirements to protect the safety and health of workers, the general public and the environment from SVHCs.

Inspectors will check whether the SVHCs subject to authorisation that have been placed on the market have been granted an authorisation by the European Commission. They will also check whether uses of these substances comply with the conditions set in the authorisation decisions. The inspections will be carried out in collaboration with national customs and authorities responsible for occupational safety and health legislation (OSH) and for environmental protection.

The enforcement activities for REF-9 will be carried out in 2021 and a report on their results will be available towards the end of 2022.

Inspections have also started in a pilot project on recovered substances. The project is the Forum’s first to examine the interface between REACH and the EU’s Waste Framework Directive. It focuses on the exemption that the recycling sector has from registering substances that they have recovered from waste. The project targets recovered substances that fulfil the end-of-waste status.

The checks will be carried out in collaboration with authorities responsible for waste legislation. The main aim is to check compliance with REACH registration for substances recovered from waste but also to improve enforcement authorities’ knowledge about exemptions for the waste treatment industry and raise awareness among waste operators about REACH duties.

Information about the main labelling and packaging duties for recovered substances under the CLP Regulation will also be collected by inspectors.

The pilot project inspections will be carried out in 2021, while the report with the results of the project is expected during summer 2022.