Threat by chemical substances: Legislation, production, use and waste - Environmental Deterioration and Contamination: Problems and their Management - page 46

4 REGULATION OF CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES IN EUROPE
REACH (2006), the CLP (2008) Regulation and the Globally Harmonized System
(GHS, 2011) provide the main legal fundaments for managing chemicals and their risk
today in Europe.
REACH (2006) is a European community-wide regulation, not a framework. It
came into force on 1 June 2007 to streamline and improve the former legislative
framework on chemical substances of the EU. REACH places greater responsibil-
ity on industry to manage the risks that chemicals may pose to the health and the
environment. This regulation contributes to the fulfillment of the Strategic Approach
to International Chemical Management (SAICM) adopted on 6 February 2006
in Dubai.
Registered substances under REACH Regulation are directly and freely accessible
via eChemPortal (2013), hosted by European Chemicals Agency (ECHA, 2013) and
developed by OECD (2013) in cooperation. The last update of the database (prior to
this edition) on 26 July 2013 contains 9,902 unique substances and information in
39,455 dossiers. For comparison, the same statistic of 2011 December contains 4,136
unique substances in 23,857 REACH registration dossiers.
SAICM (2006), the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management is
a policy framework to promote chemical safety around the world targeting minimizing
adverse impacts on the environment and human health by chemicals for 2020.
CLP (2008) is an EU regulation which aligns the EU system of classification, label-
ing and packaging chemical substances and mixtures to the Globally Harmonized
System (GHS, 2011). It is expected to facilitate global trade and the harmonized com-
munication of hazard information of chemicals and to promote regulatory efficiency.
It complements the REACH regulation and replaces the system laid formerly down
in Dangerous Substances (67/548/EEC) (DSD, 1967) and Dangerous Preparations
(1999/45/EC) Directives (DPD, 1999).
The CLP regulation states that it should ensure high-level protection of human
health and the environment as well as the free movement of chemical substances,
mixtures and certain specific articles, while enhancing competitiveness and innovation.
The regulation incorporates the classification criteria and labeling rules agreed at UN
(United Nation) level, the so-called Globally Harmonized System of Classification and
Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). It introduces new classification criteria, hazard symbols
(pictograms) and labeling phrases, while taking into account elements which are part
of the current EU legislation.
The CLP regulation requires companies to appropriately classify, label and package
their substances and mixtures before placing them on the market. It aims to protect
workers, consumers and the environment by means of labeling which reflects possible
hazardous effects of a particular chemical substance. It also takes over provisions of
the REACH regulation regarding the notification of classifications, the establishment
of a list of harmonized classifications and the creation of a classification and labeling
inventory.
GHS addresses classification of chemicals by types of hazard and proposes har-
monized hazard communication elements, including labels and safety data sheets. It
aims at ensuring that information on physical hazards and toxicity from chemicals