opesus at the 10th BfR User Conference
Since 2013 opesus has been attending the Federal Institute of Risk (BfR) annual user conferences. This year Markus Pogrzeba and Mark Pfister attended the 10th BfR user conference in Berlin. Being the 10th event, it had one of the largest turnouts with about 350 attendees. The focus was the implementation of the harmonized notification obligations according to Annex VIII of the CLP regulation.
BfR Accepts Notifications with ECHA since April 2019
As the national appointed body for Germany, the BfR plays a central role in consumer protection and food safety. The BfR distributes information about hazardous mixtures to the Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt – UBA) and the eight poison centers in Germany (Giftinformationszentrum – GIZ). With the upcoming amendment of the German Chemical Act (Chemikaliengesetz), the BfR will also distribute the contact info, trade name, and the UFI of hazardous mixtures to the state supervisory authorities.
In light of the European harmonization for product notifications (Annex VIII to the CLP regulation), the BfR has been able to accept notifications since the first release of the ECHA Submission Portal. This means that companies can send product notifications in the PCN format via the ECHA Submission Portal.
Until 31.12.2020, the BfR will still accept product notifications in the “XProduktmeldung” format for products for consumer and professional use. From 01.01.2021, only the PCN format will be accepted, even though the BfR portal will remain intact. In her presentation, Ms. Kathrin Begemann of the BfR stated that Germany accepts dossiers in English and German.
Notification for Detergents Continue
While the EU regulation applies only to mixtures classified for health and physical hazards, Dr. Ronald Keipert clarified that the national regulation for detergents and cleaning products still applies (see Article 10 of the German Detergent and Cleaning Agents Act). This means that even if non-hazardous, detergents and cleaning products are placed on the German market need to be notified. It was indicated at the conference that the “XProduktmeldung” format shall continue to be used to notify non-hazardous detergents even beyond 2020.
Fun fact: Product notifications in the BfR format is the first format that opesus supports with our flagship software opesus EHS Product Notification.
