EU Enforcement Project Starts: Agencies Check on Importers’ Adherence to Their REACH Obligations

As part of the new EU enforcement project, REACH-EN-FORCE 12, enforcement agencies and customs inspectors will examine how well companies meet their obligations under REACH when they import chemicals, mixtures, and products from outside the EU. The planning phase is set to begin in 2023, and the inspections themselves are planned for 2024. According to Katja vom Hofe, the chair of the ECHA Enforcement Forum, all 27 EU member states and 3 EEA states will participate in the project.

With the strengthened inspections, the EU wants to ensure equal competitive conditions for members and non-members of the European Union. For many years, industry has argued for stronger inspections for goods from outside the EU. A pilot project, whose results were published in 2019, showed the necessity of tighter inspections. At that time, agencies cooperated with customs inspectors to examine over 1,300 products. Almost one quarter of them violated the requirements of REACH.

The EU wants to continue and expand this work with the current project. The results of the inspections will probably be published at the end of 2025.

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