The Enforcement Forum of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) developed a new “REACH Enforcement Project” which mandates EU Member States to enforce strict adherence to the REACH Regulation. Specifically, this project will investigate how companies fulfil the registration, authorisation and restriction obligations for products and chemicals they import from outside the EU. The project will be performed in 2023-2025 and will require close cooperation between REACH enforcement and national customs authorities in the Member States.

Background

REACH stands for Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals. It’s a regulation of the European Union, adopted in 2007, designed to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the potential risks posed by chemicals.

REACH makes industry responsible for assessing and managing the risks posed by chemicals and providing appropriate safety information to their users. The role of authorities is to provide a framework for the legislation and contribute to its enforcement.

One key requirement of REACH is the registration obligation, which applies to any company that manufactures or imports over 1 ton per year of a substance, whether it is a pure substance or a mixture like a cosmetic product. This means that when importing a cosmetic product into the EU, every substance present in it must be registered if it exceeds the 1 ton per year threshold by an EU legal entity (Only Representative).

To ensure compliance with REACH, each importer or producer must verify whether each substance present in finished cosmetic products are listed on the candidate, authorization, and restriction lists, as well as checking for any more generic restrictions.

What’s new?

Compliance with REACH Regulation for cosmetics is not new, as it has been in place in the EU since 2006. However, for a long time, cosmetics were not a priority for enforcement authorities.

Following the November 2022 meeting, the Enforcement Forum of ECHA agreed to investigate how companies comply with the registration, authorization, and restriction obligations for products and chemicals they import from outside the EU. The project will be carried out from 2023 to 2025, meaning that verification of compliance with REACH requirements for products, and not just raw materials, will be increased. Customs will perform most of the checks since imported products are a major target.

France is the first country to implement this project by adding a section to its customs form specifically for REACH restriction compliance. Italy also started to perform customs controls in the scope of REACH, following the French practices.

References:

European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) – Forum enforcement projects