HSE launches helpdesk as REACH authority

The Government has announced that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) http://www.hse.gov.uk is to take on the role of UK Competent Authority (CA) for the new Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) system and, as part of the new role, the safety body will be providing, as of 10 October 2006, a helpdesk to support UK business in the run-up to the REACH legislation coming into force.

The helpdesk will initially provide information and advice to enquirers on REACH from the perspective of the developing CA. The EU legislation is expected to undergo its second reading in the European Parliament this autumn and could enter into force as early as April 2007.

The regulation aims to address a number of serious short-comings in the current legislation, including:

• the lack of available information on risks to human health and the environment for the majority of chemical substances on the EU market

• the slow and resource-intensive nature of the current system

• transferring the responsibility for the assessment of chemicals from the regulatory authorities to industry

• the distortions of the internal market inherent in the current fragmented legislative regime.

The HSE will work closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), http://www.defra.gov.uk the Environment Agency http://www.environment.gov.uk, the devolved administrations and other government departments, and will liaise with the new European Chemicals Agency in Helsinki.

Once the REACH system is fully operational, the HSE, in addition to providing the helpdesk, will:

• monitor compliance

• evaluate substances of concern

• take regulatory action as appropriate

• co-ordinate UK enforcement of the regulations

The helpdesk can be contacted on:
Tel: 0845 408 9575
Email: ukreachca@hse.gsi.gov.uk