Chemical compliance… what’s happening?

What’s happening with regard to chemical regulations internationally? Here are some updates we’ve prepared for you for April 2021.

Serbia and Montenegro prepare for EU chemicals legislation

The two accession countries, Serbia and Montenegro, are preparing for the introduction of European Union chemicals legislation, in particular the REACH, CLP, BPR and PIC regulations. The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is supporting the two countries in this process and has published a new study to identify the challenges involved and to suggest measures to overcome them.

According to the study, the biggest challenge is the limited financial, human and technical capacities in the two countries, which hamper the implementation and enforcement of the regulations. To speed up the process, the study has compiled two national action plans – one for Serbia and one for Montenegro – with proposed measures.

Among other things, it recommends strengthening the administration, providing financial resources for the implementation and enforcement of the regulations, and expanding IT capacities.

New study calculates costs and benefits of REACH

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has launched a new study on the costs and benefits of the REACH regulation. The study aims to assess the restrictions on hazardous chemicals and their impact on human health and the environment.

The study calculates that the benefits for human health amount to 2.1 billion euros per year. This is mainly due to the reduced risk of serious illness, such as cancer, sexual development disorders, asthma, or skin allergies.

In addition, the restrictions prevent more than 95,000 tonnes of hazardous chemicals from being released into the environment every year. The monetary value of these environmental benefits has not been calculated.

ECHA estimates the costs to companies – for example, of replacing certain chemicals to comply with the legal requirements – at 0.5 billion euros per year for the health-related restrictions and 1.2 billion euros for the environment-related restrictions.

Please contact us for more information.