EPA and European Chemicals Agency Enter Partnership with a Common Goal
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) have joined hands to promote technical cooperation on chemical management activities. ECHA is the agency that implements the European Union’s chemical management program known as REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals). In line with their shared commitment to improve chemical safety, ECHA and the EPA have signed a statement of intent to cooperate at the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) meeting in Washington, D.C. In practice, the cooperation will take place between ECHA and the EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics and the National Centre for Computational Toxicology.
Goals of the Partnership:
The goal is to strengthen the scientific dialogue between the European Union and the United States and increase cooperation on technical matters pertaining to the hazards and emerging risks of chemical substances, risk management tools, scientific collaboration and information exchange. Such data exchange is one of the major anticipated areas of collaboration. For instance, the statement of intent will promote the exchange of non-confidential information on hazards, uses, and substance identification between ECHA and EPA. Data collated under REACH will also be exchanged. The two agencies will also share criteria for managing confidential business information in order to create and promote awareness and increase the availability of chemical information to the public. The statement also enables the agencies to share information on strategies employed in management of chemicals of concern that are prioritized for regulatory action. This is to maximize the information on chemicals available to the public, both in the European Union and the United States, while protecting the industry’s confidential information. This statement of intent is expected to lead the way to closer cooperation between both the regulatory authorities for the benefit of companies and citizens on both sides of the North-Atlantic Ocean.
Source:
http://www.plasticsnews.com/headlines2.html?id=20623&channel=229
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