Helsinki, 10 November 2015 - At its November meeting, the Forum for Exchange of Information on Enforcement decided on two new pilot projects for 2016 and 2017.

In 2016, a pilot project will focus on internet sales of chemicals. The intention is to enforce that legal provisions are complied with (e.g. appropriate information is provided to customers) when substances and mixtures are offered for sale on the internet.

The pilot project for 2017 will focus on enforcing the provisions for substances in articles in REACH. The Forum is committed to coordinating enforcement of these provisions following the recent judgement of the Court of Justice (10 September 2015 in case C-106/14) clarifying the obligations under Articles 7(2) and 33 of REACH.

The Forum also specified the scope of the fifth coordinated REACH enforcement project focusing on obligations related to extended safety data sheets, exposure scenarios, risk management measures and operational conditions. The project will be executed in 2017 and addresses the whole supply chain covering obligations of first-level suppliers (e.g. manufacturers or importers), actors in the supply chain (e.g. distributors) and actual users (e.g. formulators or end users).

Reminder: European Court of Justice (ECJ) made a ruling regarding REACH Regulation that each single article rather than an assembled article is the reference for the identification of substances of very high concern (hereinafter referred as “SVHC”) on 10 September 2015, since when ECHA intends to update the guideline (still in progress) for substances in articles. The enforcement of plans is a potent guarantee for the implementation of the new rule.
Composite test cannot be recognized as it used be. It is advisable that companies that aiming to place the products on the EU market should adapt to the new test rules.