Turkish Chemical Manufacturers Association Certifies Its First Chemical Assessment Experts

Regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH Regulation) was published in the Official Gazette dated 23 June 2017, Issue 30105 (Repeated). With this Regulation, a new era in chemicals management has begun in our country. It is based on the principle that protection of chemicals from potential adverse effects on human health or the environment is the responsibility of the manufacturers and importers of these chemicals. In other words, the responsibility for managing the risks of substances belongs to those who manufacture, import, place on the market or use these substances within the scope of their professional activities. The Regulation establishes certain obligations in this context, the most important of which is the registration of chemicals. From now on, substances manufactured in quantities of 1 tonne or more, or imported as such, in mixtures or in articles (chemical substances falling under the scope of the REACH Regulation) cannot be placed on the market without obtaining a registration number from the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization.

Registration of substances will begin on 1 January 2021. Until this date, manufacturers and importers of substances must enter information about their substances through the "Substance Information Exchange Forum" via the "Chemical Registration System" within the Environmental Information System, thereby creating joint registration dossiers.

One of the new implementations brought by the REACH Regulation is that a Chemical Safety Assessment (CSA) will be conducted for substances manufactured or imported in quantities of 10 tonnes or more per year. For substances classified as hazardous as a result of the CSA, a Chemical Safety Report (CSR) and, accordingly, a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) will be prepared. The CSA, CSR and SDS will now be prepared by Chemical Evaluation Specialists. The Chemical Evaluation Specialist (CES) must possess the qualifications specified in Annex 18 of the REACH Regulation. Accordingly, the specialist must have completed 64 hours of training provided by an education institution authorized by the Ministry of Environment, and must have achieved a score of 70 or above in a 180-minute examination conducted by an institution accredited in the relevant certification field and authorized by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization. Türkiye Kimya Sanayicileri Derneği has successfully continued Safety Data Sheet Preparer training with TSE since 2003 and has also collaborated on Chemical Evaluation Specialist training under this regulation. The first training was conducted in June, and following the examination held thereafter, Turkey's first certified Chemical Evaluation Specialists received their certificates.