Common Data Platform: EU Publishes Draft Regulation

The EU Commission wants to accelerate the assessment of chemicals according to the principle of “one substance – one assessment.” That’s why it published various draft regulations at the beginning of December, including a draft regulation for a common data platform. The EU thereby added another building block to the chemicals strategy it published three years ago.

The new platform will combine chemical data from all legislation and all existing data platforms, including:

• The Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring (IPCheM)
• The Public Activities Coordination Tool (PACT) of the ECHA
• The search tool for EU chemicals legislation (EUCLEF)

The data includes information on hazards, physico-chemical properties, environmental occurrence, emissions, uses, the environmental sustainability of chemicals, and ongoing regulatory processes.

EU authorities such as the ECHA, the European Food Safety Authority, the European Environment Agency, and the European Medicines Agency, along with authorities of various EU countries, have so far maintained their own databases. Data exchange between the institutions was sparse, making effective substance monitoring almost impossible. The new megaplatform will standardize data, accelerate data exchange, and enable more-effective risk assessment. Findings obtained from assessments under one law (on biocides, for example) can also be used for other products, such as toys.

In the next step, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers will examine the three proposals, which they will then submit to the EU Commission for adoption as law.

KFT is regularly involved in evaluation processes. Do you market substances on the list? Please contact us at sales@kft.de.