The regulation, which places greater responsibility on industry to manage the risk of chemicals and provide appropriate safety information to professional users and consumers, will have a significant impact on the manufacturing industry and its supply chain.
This marks the start of a very demanding year for the ECHA. The Agency will have to work very hard to become fully operational by 1 June 2008 when it will face its first major challenge. From 1 June to 1 December 2008 the Agency will have to handle the on-line submission of pre-registration, registration and intermediate substance dossiers. About 180,000 such pre-registration files are expected to be submitted.
The Agency's Interim Executive Director is Mr. Geert Dancet, who has been seconded by the Commission to head the team which will get the Agency started. However, the current recruitment drive to fill the various positions at the ECHA HQ in Helsinki is proving difficult and there are concerns that the ECHA may struggle to be fully operational by this date.