Companies importing into the European Union are now seeing clear signs of enforcement of the REACH regulation that was put into effect 1 June 2007. Incidences of shipments being blocked at ports and very thorough site inspections are being carried out, with one Hungarian company noting that inspectors had even suggested taking samples of chemicals for testing. These and other examples of enforcement were highlighted at the European Chemical Agency's (ECHA) third stakeholder day on 3 December 2009.
REACH director at the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC), Erwin Annys, told delegates that its members had reported a significant increase in the level of activity concerning chemicals inspections this past year. The number of inspections and the value of penalties associated with non-compliance, however, is vastly biased depending on the EU Member State.
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Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia impose administrative penalties only, while 13 other countries apply a mixture of administrative and criminal sanctions including Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands. Click here to review the penalties given by each of the EU Member states.
Industry representatives remain concerned about the lack of uniformity and precedent security of REACH enforcement. Specifically, fee structures are linked to a country's penalty regime without any consideration of the volume of production, and there appears to be no clear distinction between deliberate violations and small errors when penalties are determined.
Sources:
ChemicalWatch, "850 REACH Inspections in 2009 and More to Come"
ENDS Report, "Concern Over Variation in Nations' REACH Fines"
SGS
