REACH baseline study

According to Article 117(4) of the REACH Regulation, the Commission has to report every five years on the functioning of REACH, starting from 1 June 2012. Therefore, there is a legal obligation for the Commission to report again in 2017. The next Commission report will build on Member State and ECHA reports (due in the course of 2015 and 2016), as well as on a number of specific studies launched by the Commission in order to assess particular elements related to the implementation of REACH.

One of the elements to be monitored regularly by the Commission is the effectiveness and efficiency of REACH in terms of its capacity to contribute to improving the quality of data available for the risk management of chemicals and to reducing the risks posed by chemicals. This requires a sound statistical analysis following an established methodology that allows for comparison of results at different points in time.

A first REACH baseline study was completed in 2009 that developed a risk and quality indicator system and provided a first “snapshot” based on data available in 2007, before REACH entered into force. A second “snapshot” based on data available after the first registration deadline was completed in 2012 in order to contribute to the general report on the operation of REACH published in 2013 (so-called REACH review 2013). As stated in the REACH review 2013, the comparison of results obtained in 2009 and 2012 indicated a significant improvement of the quality of data available for risk management of registered chemicals, resulting in a marked decrease of the nominal risk for those substances.

A third “snapshot” is necessary in order to obtain a new comparison of results that will support the Commission report on the functioning of REACH due in 2017. The new comparison of results should be based on a study that provides a sound statistical analysis that applies the methodology already established in the previous studies to substances registered by the second registration deadline and, if appropriate, to substances included in the candidate list or in the authorisation list (Annex XIV to REACH).