EuChemS attended the European Chemical Agency’s Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) – 47 meeting in Helsinki in November. The RAC prepares the opinions of ECHA related to the risks of substances to human health and the environment, although final decisions are taken by the European Commission.

One of the major issues highlighted during the meeting was the increasing workload of RAC which tripled from 34 opinions in 2012, to 102 opinions in 2016 and 98 in 2017. The RAC plenary meetings which now usually take two weeks and are conducted four times a year, are dedicated to the assessment of classification and labelling dossiers under CLP, as well as the evaluation of applications for authorisation and proposals for restrictions of chemicals.

Further information about the RAC and minutes of the meetings are published by ECHA online here: https://echa.europa.eu/meetings-of-the-rac/2018