The European Commission is taking further measures to ease the implementation of the new EU Regulations on chemicals for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and reduce costs.
The Regulation, that sets the fees to be levied by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in connection with Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulation (CLP), was adopted yesterday. There are specific reductions for SMEs: 90% for micro enterprises, 60% for small companies, and 30% for medium-sized companies. These fees apply when a company asks for an alternative name for a substance or requests harmonized classification and labelling for substances. Companies can also use the new alternative name in a number of additional mixtures without paying an extra fee.
European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani, Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, with the full agreement of Commissioner for Environment Janez Potocnik, said: This has been a priority for me since the beginning of my mandate. Now with significant reductions of up to 90% for smaller companies in the chemical sector we will ensure that they continue to be competitive. With the REACH and CLP regulations, we have laid the foundations for a modern legislative scheme, which also creates new opportunities for businesses.”
Two Regulations are addressed with regard to smoother implementation: REACH and the CLP Regulation. In more detail, a better deal for SMEs will be ensured by the following:
- In the context of the CLP regulation the Commission has adopted the following specific reduction: 90% for micro enterprises, 60% for small companies, and 30% for medium-sized companies.
- Companies can work in their own languages, as the guidance documents and tools to implement the regulations have been translated. The Commission will soon publish the essential ‘Draft Guidance on Authorisation’ in all EU languages. Meanwhile, the ECHA is translating other key guidance documents and tools. A number have already been published in 22 languages over the past few weeks.
- SMEs also get assistance on REACH and CLP through the national helpdesks that operate in all the Member States. Vice President Tajani recently addressed them to recall how crucial their role is as local reference points for SMEs, helping them in national languages. He urged Member States to make sure that the helpdesks are appropriately staffed to meet the increasing demands, in view of the upcoming deadlines.
- To further advance the implementation of REACH, a Group of senior managers from the Commission, ECHA and six industry organisations has been working on practical solutions that can help companies to successfully pass the upcoming REACH registration deadline of 30 November 2010.
