WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.296 --> 00:00:01.998 Safer Chemicals podcast. 2 00:00:02.738 --> 00:00:04.859 Sound science on harmful chemicals. 3 00:00:11.125 --> 00:00:15.570 Welcome to the European Chemicals Agency's Safer Chemicals podcast. 4 00:00:16.875 --> 00:00:21.640 Today we're looking into the results of a recent reach enforcement project. 5 00:00:22.437 --> 00:00:24.500 During this EU-wide initiative, 6 00:00:24.922 --> 00:00:27.015 inspectors from 29 countries 7 00:00:27.500 --> 00:00:37.326 carried out targeted checks on over 2,600 imported products to verify their compliance with the EU's chemical regulation REACH. 8 00:00:38.693 --> 00:00:45.217 The results highlight some familiar issues around substances in mixtures and certain consumer products, 9 00:00:45.701 --> 00:00:46.498 such as jewellery. 10 00:00:47.654 --> 00:00:48.420 In this episode, 11 00:00:48.514 --> 00:00:52.467 we'll break down the findings and discuss what they mean for companies, 12 00:00:52.842 --> 00:00:53.608 for consumers, 13 00:00:53.748 --> 00:00:54.873 and the environment. 14 00:00:55.592 --> 00:00:56.748 We'll also look at how 15 00:00:56.872 --> 00:01:02.852 customs and enforcement authorities work together to keep us and the European market safe. 16 00:01:04.652 --> 00:01:07.254 My name is Päivi Jokiniemi and I am joined by 17 00:01:07.637 --> 00:01:08.535 Henrik Hedlund, 18 00:01:09.176 --> 00:01:15.441 chair of ECHA's Enforcement Forum and this project's working group and Maciej Baranski, 19 00:01:15.941 --> 00:01:19.238 team leader of ECHA's Harmonised Enforcement Team. 20 00:01:19.738 --> 00:01:20.441 Welcome both. 21 00:01:20.504 --> 00:01:21.785 Thank you for joining me today. 22 00:01:22.691 --> 00:01:23.332 Thank you for having us. 23 00:01:25.616 --> 00:01:26.938 So good to have you here. 24 00:01:27.198 --> 00:01:36.686 I was thinking we could start the episode by just having a very brief explanation of the scope and objectives of this enforcement project. 25 00:01:37.389 --> 00:01:43.030 And also I'm curious to know why did you choose to focus on imported substances, 26 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:45.030 mixtures and products? 27 00:01:46.514 --> 00:01:46.670 Yeah, 28 00:01:46.780 --> 00:01:48.077 it's quite a small project. 29 00:01:48.264 --> 00:01:50.624 We focus on the key duties under REACH. 30 00:01:50.764 --> 00:01:52.124 So we check the restrictions, 31 00:01:52.217 --> 00:01:53.858 registration and authorisation. 32 00:01:55.376 --> 00:02:00.520 The objectives for doing this is to strengthen or was to strengthen the enforcement of REACH obligation on imports, 33 00:02:01.122 --> 00:02:04.645 to enhance the cooperation between REACH enforcement and customs, 34 00:02:05.224 --> 00:02:06.888 find methods on how we work together, 35 00:02:07.466 --> 00:02:12.927 and to develop and apply a systematic use of data from these customs declarations. 36 00:02:13.895 --> 00:02:20.349 There were also a couple of other reasons why we're looking into specifically focusing on imports. 37 00:02:21.442 --> 00:02:22.005 In the past Forum projects, 38 00:02:23.560 --> 00:02:26.063 when the inspectors were checking restrictions, 39 00:02:26.883 --> 00:02:35.654 we noted that there is a definitely higher level of non-compliance in imported products compared to those that were originating from Europe. 40 00:02:35.670 --> 00:02:36.553 So that was one reason. 41 00:02:37.357 --> 00:02:37.857 In addition, 42 00:02:38.076 --> 00:02:47.170 the chemical strategy for sustainability highlights that most of the alerts for dangerous products on the market are actually about chemical non-compliance. 43 00:02:47.201 --> 00:02:48.842 So that was another aspect. 44 00:02:49.670 --> 00:02:50.264 And lastly... 45 00:02:50.668 --> 00:02:57.994 The Commission indicated that they plan for their future revision of REACH to strengthen imports control related to REACH. 46 00:02:58.799 --> 00:03:03.658 And that's why I wanted to check what the compliance situation is like now to serve as a benchmark for the future. 47 00:03:04.760 --> 00:03:06.869 Before we go into the results, 48 00:03:07.947 --> 00:03:12.775 I'd like to highlight that this was something that is called a targeted enforcement project. 49 00:03:13.213 --> 00:03:20.041 So it means that inspectors focused on imports where they were expecting to find non-compliance, 50 00:03:20.072 --> 00:03:20.291 right? 51 00:03:21.384 --> 00:03:25.264 So could you tell us a little bit how the project was designed? 52 00:03:25.986 --> 00:03:30.963 And are there things that we should now keep in mind when we start going through the results? 53 00:03:32.064 --> 00:03:32.244 Yes, 54 00:03:32.408 --> 00:03:33.908 we did risk-based inspections. 55 00:03:33.924 --> 00:03:34.166 That's, 56 00:03:34.627 --> 00:03:34.908 I think, 57 00:03:34.947 --> 00:03:37.228 what almost all inspectors do all the time, 58 00:03:37.244 --> 00:03:38.806 that you have to do this. 59 00:03:38.994 --> 00:03:42.822 Because there's a limit to the resource that we have. 60 00:03:43.635 --> 00:03:44.181 So we did this, 61 00:03:44.213 --> 00:03:44.666 in this case, 62 00:03:44.728 --> 00:03:49.885 by carefully targeting shipment and products where non-compliance was expected to be found. 63 00:03:51.016 --> 00:04:00.345 This is done to ensure efficient use of enforcement resources and the results of enforcement action that the forum has run. 64 00:04:00.384 --> 00:04:06.837 So we base it on previous learnings and the figures we have here should then not be seen as, 65 00:04:06.838 --> 00:04:07.087 you know, 66 00:04:08.931 --> 00:04:11.681 how it looks as a whole if you just buy a random product. 67 00:04:13.025 --> 00:04:13.181 Yes, 68 00:04:13.259 --> 00:04:14.400 very good clarification. 69 00:04:15.040 --> 00:04:19.540 So then what were the most significant findings from this project? 70 00:04:20.984 --> 00:04:21.104 So, 71 00:04:21.425 --> 00:04:25.585 about one third of the substances imported in mixtures was missing a REACH registration. 72 00:04:26.425 --> 00:04:30.268 This is a much higher rate than we have seen in previous enforcement actions. 73 00:04:31.128 --> 00:04:36.425 And this highlights that mixtures are a great way for unregistered substances entering the European market. 74 00:04:37.690 --> 00:04:38.753 Something to keep in mind. 75 00:04:39.003 --> 00:04:39.206 Yes. 76 00:04:40.487 --> 00:04:41.565 On the restrictions side, 77 00:04:42.346 --> 00:04:48.284 we also saw that the imported jewelry contains quite a lot of hazardous heavy metals, 78 00:04:48.456 --> 00:04:48.753 nickel, 79 00:04:49.034 --> 00:04:49.925 lead and cadmium. 80 00:04:50.400 --> 00:04:51.441 Basically one fifth, 81 00:04:52.622 --> 00:04:58.784 well every fifth piece of jewellery that was controlled contains nickel in breach of the conditions of the restriction. 82 00:05:00.850 --> 00:05:06.394 What it shows in relation to previous projects is persistent non-compliance with heavy metals in the jewellery. 83 00:05:07.496 --> 00:05:14.824 And nickel being a sensitiser and found in imported products for consumers is a cause for concern. 84 00:05:15.324 --> 00:05:18.910 And what we see is that compliance has not really improved across the years. 85 00:05:19.316 --> 00:05:23.176 So jewellery would continue to be on the radar of enforcement authorities in the future. 86 00:05:24.051 --> 00:05:27.410 You already started talking about the different focus areas there. 87 00:05:27.441 --> 00:05:29.441 So you mentioned that the inspectors checked. 88 00:05:29.926 --> 00:05:34.010 whether imported substances had a valid REACH registration. 89 00:05:34.912 --> 00:05:44.299 They also checked if restricted hazardous substances were present in imported consumer products above the allowed limits. 90 00:05:45.424 --> 00:05:46.705 And then as a third area, 91 00:05:47.721 --> 00:05:55.674 the inspectors checked if imported substances of very high concern had reach authorisation when it was required. 92 00:05:56.471 --> 00:05:56.596 So... 93 00:05:57.266 --> 00:06:00.409 Are there certain things that you would like to highlight from these different areas? 94 00:06:01.769 --> 00:06:01.909 Yeah, 95 00:06:02.030 --> 00:06:03.370 should I start with registrations maybe? 96 00:06:03.952 --> 00:06:05.433 So when we did these controls, 97 00:06:05.558 --> 00:06:08.979 we checked the imported substance above one tonne, 98 00:06:09.081 --> 00:06:10.159 and if that was registered. 99 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:13.706 We did about 1,200 checks in total, 100 00:06:13.925 --> 00:06:16.503 and we found 800 were subject to registrations. 101 00:06:16.925 --> 00:06:20.925 So you have to go through quite a lot of controls to find the right ones. 102 00:06:21.862 --> 00:06:22.237 Overall, 103 00:06:22.238 --> 00:06:22.956 18% 104 00:06:22.987 --> 00:06:26.440 of substances subjected to registrations were not compliant. 105 00:06:26.854 --> 00:06:29.237 And in particular what we saw that was that 32% 106 00:06:29.516 --> 00:06:32.020 of substance and mixture were missing a registration. 107 00:06:32.782 --> 00:06:41.665 So for restrictions the restriction controls were checked if the imported product contained hazardous restricted substance above the allowed threshold. 108 00:06:42.915 --> 00:06:47.149 Here we did overall 1 300 products that were checked for these restrictions. 109 00:06:47.993 --> 00:06:50.743 Mostly they were done on articles such as jewelry, 110 00:06:50.852 --> 00:06:51.274 toys, 111 00:06:51.633 --> 00:06:52.852 textiles or footwear. 112 00:06:53.477 --> 00:06:55.196 But also some mixtures were checked in this. 113 00:06:56.118 --> 00:06:56.462 Overall 114 00:06:56.834 --> 00:06:57.414 16% 115 00:06:57.474 --> 00:07:02.755 of all these different type of products taken together contained a hazardous restricted substance, 116 00:07:02.756 --> 00:07:03.536 so 16% 117 00:07:03.634 --> 00:07:04.614 non-compliance rate. 118 00:07:06.673 --> 00:07:08.939 The majority of the products checked were jewellery, 119 00:07:09.993 --> 00:07:11.720 and they were checked for the presence of nickel, 120 00:07:11.798 --> 00:07:12.478 cadmium and lead. 121 00:07:12.501 --> 00:07:15.634 So you often checked all three restrictions at once. 122 00:07:17.322 --> 00:07:17.822 For nickel, 123 00:07:17.915 --> 00:07:19.915 it was one fifth of all checked jewellery. 124 00:07:21.118 --> 00:07:24.822 And this is unknown sensitisers that may cause allergic skin reactions. 125 00:07:26.727 --> 00:07:29.629 And where we see lead and cadmium was less frequent, 126 00:07:30.709 --> 00:07:32.553 but still be found in 4-5% 127 00:07:32.771 --> 00:07:33.354 respectively. 128 00:07:35.494 --> 00:07:38.057 For other categories of products checked, 129 00:07:38.736 --> 00:07:40.400 the non-compliance rate was lower. 130 00:07:40.721 --> 00:07:41.182 For toys, 131 00:07:41.197 --> 00:07:41.604 for instance, 132 00:07:41.605 --> 00:07:42.775 it was 7%. 133 00:07:42.869 --> 00:07:44.088 For textiles and footwear, 134 00:07:44.104 --> 00:07:44.947 it was 5%. 135 00:07:46.119 --> 00:07:47.150 For authorisation, 136 00:07:47.291 --> 00:07:49.150 it was a smaller component of the project. 137 00:07:50.197 --> 00:07:51.713 For authorisations, 138 00:07:52.057 --> 00:07:53.229 the controls. 139 00:07:53.518 --> 00:07:56.418 that were there targeted imports of substances on their own, 140 00:07:57.398 --> 00:08:01.039 which were subject to authorisation and were also passed the sunset date. 141 00:08:02.184 --> 00:08:03.918 These are substances of very high concern, 142 00:08:04.543 --> 00:08:10.449 which cannot be used or placed on the market unless a special authorisation has been granted by the European Commission. 143 00:08:11.121 --> 00:08:11.840 And in the project, 144 00:08:11.887 --> 00:08:14.981 25 controls were done related to authorisation, 145 00:08:15.340 --> 00:08:21.418 21 of which in the end ended up being focused on these substances that were subject to authorisation. 146 00:08:22.086 --> 00:08:23.167 And out of those 21, 147 00:08:23.808 --> 00:08:28.772 four were found that the authorisation was either missing or expired, 148 00:08:28.834 --> 00:08:29.475 so invalid. 149 00:08:30.772 --> 00:08:32.076 Thank you for that summary. 150 00:08:33.076 --> 00:08:33.334 Henrik, 151 00:08:33.381 --> 00:08:39.537 you mentioned earlier that there is a reason why you actually chose to take a look at imported products. 152 00:08:39.803 --> 00:08:47.365 And that was that you've seen in earlier projects that there are issues with these imports. 153 00:08:47.898 --> 00:08:48.339 And Maciej, 154 00:08:48.359 --> 00:08:54.626 you also already mentioned that there are certain trends that you can see in the inspected products. 155 00:08:55.486 --> 00:08:58.165 Are these projects completely comparable? 156 00:08:58.228 --> 00:08:59.548 Can you see some trends? 157 00:08:59.611 --> 00:09:04.407 Can you see that something has improved or that something is worse than before? 158 00:09:05.048 --> 00:09:08.939 What kind of trends can you draw out of these results? 159 00:09:09.657 --> 00:09:10.376 That's a good question. 160 00:09:10.423 --> 00:09:11.642 Maybe I'll start with the registration. 161 00:09:12.923 --> 00:09:14.392 So on the registration front, 162 00:09:15.142 --> 00:09:16.298 there's not improvement, 163 00:09:16.611 --> 00:09:16.829 really. 164 00:09:17.010 --> 00:09:17.130 We, 165 00:09:17.170 --> 00:09:17.571 in fact, 166 00:09:17.651 --> 00:09:20.693 observe higher levels of non-compliance compared to the past. 167 00:09:21.173 --> 00:09:21.533 However, 168 00:09:21.736 --> 00:09:30.665 it's important to note that all the past projects of the Forum targeted both the non-EU imports and also the EU manufacturers. 169 00:09:31.283 --> 00:09:34.204 So this was a mix of both imported and non-imported products. 170 00:09:34.611 --> 00:09:37.689 And if we look at the historical trends in 2024, 171 00:09:37.908 --> 00:09:38.267 in the REF12, 172 00:09:39.095 --> 00:09:40.486 we see that 18% 173 00:09:40.533 --> 00:09:43.142 of checked imported substances are missing registration. 174 00:09:43.533 --> 00:09:44.517 If we go back in time, 175 00:09:44.518 --> 00:09:45.517 2019, 176 00:09:45.814 --> 00:09:47.955 REF-7 project on registration, 177 00:09:48.416 --> 00:09:49.397 6.5% 178 00:09:49.697 --> 00:09:52.002 of all substances missing a registration. 179 00:09:52.420 --> 00:09:53.361 And going back further, 180 00:09:53.682 --> 00:09:55.283 2014, 181 00:09:55.284 --> 00:09:55.565 the REF-3, 182 00:09:56.002 --> 00:09:56.807 only 3% 183 00:09:57.268 --> 00:09:58.447 were missing a registration. 184 00:10:00.454 --> 00:10:01.556 For imported substances, 185 00:10:01.755 --> 00:10:06.562 the non-compliance with registration is around three times higher than the last non-compliance checked, 186 00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:11.405 where there was no distinction made between the substance that was manufactured in the EU or imported. 187 00:10:11.507 --> 00:10:13.163 So the difference is quite visible. 188 00:10:13.546 --> 00:10:15.265 Not exactly the trend that you want to see. 189 00:10:16.007 --> 00:10:16.132 No. 190 00:10:16.437 --> 00:10:16.546 No. 191 00:10:17.124 --> 00:10:17.374 Henrik, 192 00:10:17.375 --> 00:10:18.577 what about the restrictions then? 193 00:10:20.218 --> 00:10:20.358 Yeah, 194 00:10:20.452 --> 00:10:21.858 we can see some trends there as well. 195 00:10:22.155 --> 00:10:24.483 I think here it's a little bit easier to compare them, 196 00:10:24.905 --> 00:10:27.187 especially since we also had a pilot project that year. 197 00:10:27.280 --> 00:10:29.124 So the questions were pretty similar. 198 00:10:30.483 --> 00:10:34.368 So in this project the non-compliance for all restrictions was 16%. 199 00:10:34.965 --> 00:10:41.755 In this pilot project that we ran in 2019 when we focused on checking restrictions in imports it was 17%. 200 00:10:41.770 --> 00:10:45.294 So quite comparable and we have the same targeting here. 201 00:10:47.676 --> 00:10:51.536 We've made detailed comparisons for restrictions of cadmium lead and nickel in jewelry. 202 00:10:52.551 --> 00:10:58.926 And for nickel we see a significant increase of non-compliance between earlier projects in REF 10 2022. 203 00:10:59.858 --> 00:11:01.560 We had a non-compliance rate of 8% 204 00:11:01.961 --> 00:11:03.380 and this time now we have 20%. 205 00:11:04.521 --> 00:11:05.685 For both lead and cadmium, 206 00:11:05.802 --> 00:11:09.826 we see a decrease since this project in 2022 from 12% 207 00:11:09.966 --> 00:11:10.505 to 5% 208 00:11:10.568 --> 00:11:11.849 for cadmium and 11% 209 00:11:12.130 --> 00:11:12.630 to 4% 210 00:11:12.849 --> 00:11:13.232 for lead. 211 00:11:14.130 --> 00:11:18.037 But it might also be due to a little bit on different how you can target things. 212 00:11:20.255 --> 00:11:28.443 So you already mentioned now quite a many product categories there with particularly high levels of non-compliance. 213 00:11:28.802 --> 00:11:29.365 Did these differ depending on which requirement you were checking? 214 00:11:35.636 --> 00:11:35.835 Yes, 215 00:11:36.597 --> 00:11:44.746 especially for mixtures where we saw that one third of checked imported mixtures contained unregistered substances and also on jewellery where 18% 216 00:11:44.964 --> 00:11:48.480 of checked pieces of imported jewellery contain restricted heavy metals, 217 00:11:48.605 --> 00:11:49.589 especially nickel. 218 00:11:50.824 --> 00:11:58.121 Maybe worth adding also smaller specific groups of products or types of products that we saw were a bit standouts from the rest. 219 00:11:58.586 --> 00:11:58.866 And that's, 220 00:11:58.867 --> 00:11:59.387 for example, 221 00:11:59.447 --> 00:12:00.767 radio controlled model cars, 222 00:12:00.908 --> 00:12:01.789 the imported ones. 223 00:12:02.670 --> 00:12:05.134 Whilst there were only 28 controls for these products, 224 00:12:05.334 --> 00:12:07.275 one fourth of them contained asbestos, 225 00:12:08.056 --> 00:12:09.353 which is a well-known carcinogen. 226 00:12:10.517 --> 00:12:10.759 Also, 227 00:12:10.900 --> 00:12:16.127 another frequently found type of product that was not compliant was footwear. 228 00:12:17.283 --> 00:12:20.283 As inspectors found several different hazardous substances, 229 00:12:20.752 --> 00:12:21.486 such as phthalates, 230 00:12:21.892 --> 00:12:22.189 chromium-6, 231 00:12:22.830 --> 00:12:23.892 lead or formaldehyde. 232 00:12:24.877 --> 00:12:24.986 Well, 233 00:12:25.017 --> 00:12:26.048 now that we've covered... 234 00:12:26.210 --> 00:12:26.970 the products, 235 00:12:27.250 --> 00:12:29.910 I think the next logical question is to ask, 236 00:12:30.510 --> 00:12:32.010 where do these products come from? 237 00:12:32.650 --> 00:12:35.951 So could the inspector see any patterns there? 238 00:12:36.951 --> 00:12:38.311 So looking at the registration, 239 00:12:38.811 --> 00:12:40.311 all the imports were checked, 240 00:12:40.850 --> 00:12:42.451 came from 55 different countries. 241 00:12:42.936 --> 00:12:43.967 So quite a lot of them. 242 00:12:44.436 --> 00:12:44.733 However, 243 00:12:44.734 --> 00:12:46.029 the vast majority of them, 244 00:12:46.451 --> 00:12:48.811 of all the imports came from five countries. 245 00:12:49.233 --> 00:12:49.889 And that's China, 246 00:12:50.170 --> 00:12:50.936 United Kingdom, 247 00:12:51.201 --> 00:12:51.529 Turkey, 248 00:12:52.201 --> 00:12:52.920 United States, 249 00:12:53.483 --> 00:12:53.936 and India. 250 00:12:54.154 --> 00:12:57.757 So these were the most frequently found countries of origin. 251 00:12:58.357 --> 00:13:03.447 And the overall numbers of substances checked per country reflect the volume of imports. 252 00:13:03.681 --> 00:13:06.345 So most substances that were checked originated from China, 253 00:13:06.790 --> 00:13:07.470 UK and Turkey, 254 00:13:07.509 --> 00:13:09.267 because most of them were coming from there. 255 00:13:10.048 --> 00:13:19.040 But the key finding of the project was actually how many unregistered substances were found amongst the substances imported from a given country. 256 00:13:19.478 --> 00:13:21.556 So from among all the imports from that country, 257 00:13:21.603 --> 00:13:22.618 how many were non-compliant. 258 00:13:23.103 --> 00:13:23.681 And here... 259 00:13:23.966 --> 00:13:29.934 The rates of non-compliance with registration are that actually the highest one was from Turkey. 260 00:13:30.371 --> 00:13:31.094 48% 261 00:13:31.153 --> 00:13:33.637 of substances from Turkey was actually found to be non-compliant. 262 00:13:34.059 --> 00:13:34.895 Then United Kingdom, 263 00:13:35.020 --> 00:13:35.754 28%. 264 00:13:36.239 --> 00:13:36.762 Then India, 265 00:13:37.035 --> 00:13:37.598 19%. 266 00:13:38.020 --> 00:13:38.621 And then China, 267 00:13:38.840 --> 00:13:39.418 16%. 268 00:13:40.239 --> 00:13:41.567 And what about the restrictions? 269 00:13:42.864 --> 00:13:42.989 Yeah, 270 00:13:43.051 --> 00:13:44.864 when it comes to control of the country, 271 00:13:45.129 --> 00:13:46.832 it was quite similar picture, 272 00:13:46.848 --> 00:13:47.254 I would say, 273 00:13:47.395 --> 00:13:48.348 as registrations. 274 00:13:49.707 --> 00:13:51.551 Where most checked was originated from... 275 00:13:51.922 --> 00:13:52.763 especially from China, 276 00:13:52.943 --> 00:13:53.923 but then also India, 277 00:13:54.105 --> 00:13:55.245 Turkey and UK. 278 00:13:57.407 --> 00:13:59.310 Here we got a little bit of another picture. 279 00:13:59.689 --> 00:14:02.450 So where we got the highest rates of non-compliance, 280 00:14:02.615 --> 00:14:06.154 it was detected for projects originating from India with 281 00:14:06.740 --> 00:14:07.865 64% non-compliance. 282 00:14:08.474 --> 00:14:10.458 And then here China had 13%. 283 00:14:10.521 --> 00:14:13.630 So even if there's a lot of imports coming from China, 284 00:14:13.661 --> 00:14:16.849 we didn't find as much per you detect. 285 00:14:18.958 --> 00:14:25.444 I like the reason for these rates of non-compliance is the lack of knowledge about REACH registration and restriction requirements by the importing companies, 286 00:14:25.463 --> 00:14:25.846 I would say. 287 00:14:27.510 --> 00:14:35.221 So clearly there were big non-compliances like one out of three substances in imported mixtures were missing a reach registration. 288 00:14:36.049 --> 00:14:40.143 Issues with some heavy metals in jewellery. 289 00:14:41.487 --> 00:14:47.471 What kind of measures did the inspectors take when finding these non-compliances? 290 00:14:48.002 --> 00:14:48.127 and 291 00:14:48.374 --> 00:14:50.076 Can you see any impact? 292 00:14:51.257 --> 00:14:52.459 What do these measures bring? 293 00:14:53.798 --> 00:14:53.978 Yes, 294 00:14:54.220 --> 00:14:54.798 and in this case, 295 00:14:54.841 --> 00:14:57.861 because we did the inspection a little bit differently, 296 00:14:58.002 --> 00:15:00.384 depending on what you checked and what was best suited for your 297 00:15:01.435 --> 00:15:01.835 authority. 298 00:15:02.595 --> 00:15:06.960 But for the controls that were done before the goods were released for free circulation on the market, 299 00:15:07.761 --> 00:15:11.144 customs did not allow the release of non-compliant products for free circulation. 300 00:15:12.082 --> 00:15:13.222 Or in some cases they were, 301 00:15:13.386 --> 00:15:16.191 but only after they had taken corrective measures. 302 00:15:17.097 --> 00:15:25.800 So I think this is a really good example where the effect was that we protected human health and the environment by preventing this non-compliant product from entering the EEA market. 303 00:15:26.778 --> 00:15:26.958 Also, 304 00:15:27.018 --> 00:15:32.544 this helped to safeguard the European single market from unfair competition and ensure a level playing field for companies. 305 00:15:33.626 --> 00:15:36.587 In addition to the customs taking measures and stopping the shipments, 306 00:15:37.087 --> 00:15:42.415 also rich inspectors took enforcement measures for the importers of these non-compliant goods. 307 00:15:43.009 --> 00:15:46.399 They mostly issued written advice and administrative orders. 308 00:15:46.806 --> 00:15:47.696 And in some cases, 309 00:15:47.806 --> 00:15:50.368 they advised customs to destroy those non-compliant goods. 310 00:15:51.118 --> 00:15:53.431 Or if the product was already released. 311 00:15:53.890 --> 00:15:56.593 and controlled that when it was already on the market, 312 00:15:57.034 --> 00:15:59.995 they've ordered withdrawal of the product from the market. 313 00:16:01.038 --> 00:16:05.464 So the effect was to raise awareness of the REACH obligations amongst the importers, 314 00:16:05.566 --> 00:16:07.402 which should help to improve compliance in the future. 315 00:16:08.261 --> 00:16:16.331 Could you just briefly explain what is the difference between the customs inspectors and the REACH inspectors? 316 00:16:17.066 --> 00:16:19.628 What is kind of the difference of their mandate? 317 00:16:21.800 --> 00:16:22.644 It depends a little bit. 318 00:16:24.764 --> 00:16:25.404 In some countries, 319 00:16:25.424 --> 00:16:26.185 but not that many, 320 00:16:26.506 --> 00:16:30.830 the customs are also the REACH authority and can do the checks by themselves. 321 00:16:31.232 --> 00:16:32.092 In most countries, 322 00:16:32.232 --> 00:16:32.654 it's not. 323 00:16:33.435 --> 00:16:39.459 So then we have the market surveillance regulation that governs how we interact with each other and how we deal with this. 324 00:16:39.553 --> 00:16:43.662 So customs are the ones that can stop things from entering the EU. 325 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:48.303 And they're the ones who can make sure that it's re-exported or destroyed. 326 00:16:49.225 --> 00:16:50.990 But they are not the REACH experts. 327 00:16:51.722 --> 00:16:52.882 That's are the NEAs. 328 00:16:53.763 --> 00:16:56.685 So they do this with the help of the NEAs. 329 00:16:57.185 --> 00:16:59.103 So we offer them advice. 330 00:16:59.104 --> 00:17:01.783 So the National Enforcement Authority is NEAs. 331 00:17:01.884 --> 00:17:04.087 And it can look a little bit different how we do this, 332 00:17:04.126 --> 00:17:08.033 but we tell them that if this is a non-compliance or not, 333 00:17:08.705 --> 00:17:09.908 it's not the customs that do it. 334 00:17:09.909 --> 00:17:13.626 It's the customs that make the decision not to release this for free circulation. 335 00:17:13.908 --> 00:17:14.142 Okay. 336 00:17:14.673 --> 00:17:18.455 And this was also one of the project aim to use the customs data. 337 00:17:19.066 --> 00:17:21.408 More systematically for reach controls. 338 00:17:22.129 --> 00:17:22.330 Right. 339 00:17:22.349 --> 00:17:23.851 So how did this work in practice? 340 00:17:25.312 --> 00:17:25.711 Quite well. 341 00:17:26.293 --> 00:17:27.054 For registration, 342 00:17:27.836 --> 00:17:28.258 in fact, 343 00:17:28.476 --> 00:17:28.914 85% 344 00:17:29.297 --> 00:17:34.383 of all the checks were based on registration that was provided by customs to reach inspectors. 345 00:17:34.523 --> 00:17:35.765 So it worked really well, 346 00:17:35.937 --> 00:17:37.031 this exchange of information, 347 00:17:37.437 --> 00:17:43.031 whilst the remaining controls were initiated or done by customs or done together with customs. 348 00:17:43.734 --> 00:17:45.906 So when checking the registration, 349 00:17:46.078 --> 00:17:46.453 in fact, 350 00:17:46.468 --> 00:17:47.718 the most effective method. 351 00:17:47.890 --> 00:17:59.159 for enforcement to find non-compliance is for customs to provide the information on shipments to reach inspectors and then they are able to find non-compliance in future controls. 352 00:18:00.284 --> 00:18:08.917 Yeah and for restrictions it's a little bit different picture and most controls were initiated by customs finding shipment through what's called a risk profile. 353 00:18:09.245 --> 00:18:17.417 It's this risk analysis that we talked about but controls by inspect reach inspectors based on customs data are the second most frequent. 354 00:18:18.706 --> 00:18:19.447 For restrictions, 355 00:18:19.546 --> 00:18:25.727 the most effective method finding non-compliance is when customs and reach inspectors make joint checks at the border. 356 00:18:26.129 --> 00:18:27.407 It's a bit more time consuming, 357 00:18:27.508 --> 00:18:29.508 but we find a lot of non-compliance when we do that. 358 00:18:30.008 --> 00:18:30.211 Okay. 359 00:18:31.086 --> 00:18:32.071 And finally, 360 00:18:32.110 --> 00:18:35.516 at the end of each forum project, 361 00:18:36.610 --> 00:18:39.625 the enforcement forum gives some recommendations. 362 00:18:40.235 --> 00:18:45.016 So what kind of recommendations have you given this time based on the findings? 363 00:18:46.658 --> 00:18:51.423 Do you have some advice what should companies and authorities do next? 364 00:18:52.923 --> 00:18:53.083 Yes, 365 00:18:53.126 --> 00:18:55.845 we have developed some recommendations for companies, 366 00:18:56.071 --> 00:18:57.212 enforcement authorities, 367 00:18:57.352 --> 00:18:58.813 customs and the commissions. 368 00:18:59.774 --> 00:19:01.876 So just to give some maybe examples of this. 369 00:19:03.118 --> 00:19:04.477 So for the commission, 370 00:19:04.696 --> 00:19:09.977 we have an example to have a recommendation for them to engage in dialogues with third countries. 371 00:19:10.118 --> 00:19:11.368 That's indicated in the report. 372 00:19:11.954 --> 00:19:16.779 about the type of products with high non-compliance repeatedly observed in enforcement projects over the years, 373 00:19:16.838 --> 00:19:19.822 such as jewelry and metal parts of consumer articles. 374 00:19:20.584 --> 00:19:21.123 For customs, 375 00:19:21.201 --> 00:19:25.967 the key recommendation is to encourage broader use of pre-release checks, 376 00:19:26.592 --> 00:19:30.818 which allow for more effective prevention of non-compliant goods entering the market. 377 00:19:31.693 --> 00:19:33.162 For the REACH enforcement authority, 378 00:19:33.334 --> 00:19:38.725 the key recommendation is to focus on registration control for substances in imported mixtures. 379 00:19:39.675 --> 00:19:42.287 And surely you had also recommendations for companies, 380 00:19:42.327 --> 00:19:42.528 right? 381 00:19:43.051 --> 00:19:43.573 Absolutely. 382 00:19:44.030 --> 00:19:45.271 Some of the most important ones, 383 00:19:45.272 --> 00:19:45.751 of course, 384 00:19:46.472 --> 00:19:49.017 and these are particularly for companies importing chemicals, 385 00:19:49.095 --> 00:19:53.923 because they are the ones that were found non-compliant. 386 00:19:54.439 --> 00:20:02.329 So the first recommendation is for importers of chemicals and articles to become aware of their REACH obligations. 387 00:20:02.736 --> 00:20:03.548 And if they are unsure, 388 00:20:03.986 --> 00:20:09.283 to best contact the national help desks to get regulatory advice before they actually import these products. 389 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:12.579 And then the second thing is to obtain evidence. 390 00:20:13.246 --> 00:20:16.850 before the import to obtain evidence from their suppliers, 391 00:20:17.012 --> 00:20:18.090 from non-EU countries, 392 00:20:18.430 --> 00:20:24.020 particularly analytical reports or other documents that certify or prove their compliance with REACH. 393 00:20:25.879 --> 00:20:29.488 Maybe one more important thing to say is that the project is not yet over. 394 00:20:29.785 --> 00:20:32.582 The Forum will be working on a guide for inspectors, 395 00:20:32.926 --> 00:20:37.613 summarising the experiences from this project to help inspectors controlling imports in the future. 396 00:20:38.832 --> 00:20:41.332 And we'll also organise a workshop for stakeholders. 397 00:20:41.714 --> 00:20:49.460 to discuss the findings and recommendations with the representatives of the industry and encourage them to work with their constituent companies in improving the situation. 398 00:20:50.225 --> 00:20:54.350 We'll invite all the accredited stakeholder organisations working with ECHA, 399 00:20:54.889 --> 00:20:56.827 but the workshop will be publicly broadcasted, 400 00:20:57.030 --> 00:21:00.116 and anyone interested is warmly invited to follow. 401 00:21:01.288 --> 00:21:01.928 So to the end, 402 00:21:02.178 --> 00:21:05.053 I think it's still good to summarise the main findings. 403 00:21:05.131 --> 00:21:06.256 So first of all, 404 00:21:06.381 --> 00:21:10.335 inspectors found that one in three substances in imported mixtures 405 00:21:10.750 --> 00:21:12.010 lack to reach registration. 406 00:21:13.090 --> 00:21:13.450 Second, 407 00:21:13.510 --> 00:21:21.712 restricted hazardous substances were present in inspected imported consumer products above the allowed limits, 408 00:21:22.235 --> 00:21:23.969 and here in particular, 409 00:21:24.532 --> 00:21:24.969 jewellery. 410 00:21:25.993 --> 00:21:27.266 And as a result, 411 00:21:27.391 --> 00:21:28.766 as Maciej just said, 412 00:21:29.235 --> 00:21:35.157 importing companies are once again reminded to check their obligations under REACH, 413 00:21:35.376 --> 00:21:36.298 and if in doubt, 414 00:21:36.860 --> 00:21:40.016 they should contact the relevant national help desks for advice. 415 00:21:40.418 --> 00:21:44.041 And to do this before any imports are taking place. 416 00:21:45.783 --> 00:21:46.966 To wrap up this episode, 417 00:21:47.423 --> 00:21:48.306 I'd like to thank you, 418 00:21:48.787 --> 00:21:49.130 Henrik. 419 00:21:49.865 --> 00:21:50.388 And thank you, 420 00:21:50.568 --> 00:21:50.966 Maciej, 421 00:21:51.670 --> 00:21:52.248 for joining me. 422 00:21:52.271 --> 00:21:55.170 It was a pleasure chatting with you about this very, 423 00:21:55.232 --> 00:21:56.310 very important topic. 424 00:21:57.240 --> 00:21:57.552 Thank you. 425 00:21:58.052 --> 00:21:58.568 Thank you very much. 426 00:22:01.459 --> 00:22:02.865 And to still remind you, 427 00:22:02.959 --> 00:22:05.021 the project is not over yet. 428 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:08.068 So if you are interested in learning more... 429 00:22:08.470 --> 00:22:17.331 You can follow the upcoming stakeholder workshop online and you will soon find more information about this on our website. 430 00:22:18.854 --> 00:22:20.456 But if you'd rather not wait, 431 00:22:20.870 --> 00:22:31.370 you can read our news and find all the details in the full project report that is now available on our website at eka.europa.eu. 432 00:22:32.011 --> 00:22:33.073 And that's all for today. 433 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:35.448 Thanks so much and bye bye. 434 00:22:39.066 --> 00:22:41.202 Sound science on harmful chemicals.