Echa’s priorities in the next five years

摘要

Walking past Echa’s offices in the seasonal slush in Helsinki, an introductory REACH presentation is running on a screen. It proclaims that by June 2018, all the main chemicals will be registered with the agency. Without the usual caveats, ifs and buts, this strikes me as a profound statement. There is no other chemicals agency in the world with such a comprehensive database as a foundation for further work. A new page will be turned at the beginning of 2018 when the new executive director, Bj?rn Hansen, starts his five year term of office. He has a long background as the head of the chemicals unit at DG Environment and has recently been working closely in shaping the European Commission’s circular economy strategy for chemicals. His recent statements give some clues as to what Echa’s future priorities might be.