"Advancing Chemical Compliance: EU REACH & KKDIK Forum" Held

Forum on Advancing Chemical Compliance: EU REACH & KKDIK Held A high-level roundtable meeting organized by the Turkish Chemical Manufacturers Association (TKSD) on 5 and 6 July at the Conrad Bosphorous Hotel under the title "Advancing Chemical Compliance: EU REACH & KKDIK Forum" was attended by a total of 47 experts and senior executives from the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic), European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), Chemical Industries Association (CIA) and TKSD Board of Directors, as well as the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Industry and Technology and the Investment Office of the Republic of Turkey. Artkim Group - Chem Media conducted interviews with leading sector executives participating in this important event. Recep Akdeniz, Deputy Director General of Environmental Management at the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, Bahar Güçlü, Deputy Director General of International Agreements and EU at the Ministry of Trade, and Devran Ayık, Deputy Director General of Product Safety and Inspection, emphasized the importance of chemical management in Turkey and shared retrospective information about the process of harmonizing EU REACH by the Ministry of Trade. Representatives from the Ministry of Industry and Technology and the Investment Office of the Republic of Turkey stated that they are aware of the problems faced by the chemical industry in the KKDIK process and are ready to contribute to any action that would facilitate the situation. Marco Mensink, Director General of the European Chemical Industry Council, noted that despite 15 years of EU REACH implementation, a new EU Chemicals Strategy has emerged with REACH 2.0, and that Turkey could do better than EU REACH in KKDIK implementation. He emphasized that despite global recession, earthquakes and increased inventories leading to declines in the chemical sector in the US, EU and China, we need to comply with regulations. At this meeting, experiences regarding EU REACH regulations were shared, and particularly views were exchanged on data costs and sharing within the scope of KKDIK implementations. Despite 6 months remaining until the final registration deadline of 31 December 2023, only 1,400 substances have been registered and many substances still lack a lead registrant, with impacts on the sector and related 17 sub-sectors being emphasized. The Turkish Chemical Manufacturers Association highlighted difficulties regarding the low number of registrations under KKDIK regulation compliance, the lack of lead registrants, and the inability to sign annual/six-monthly contracts due to the approach of budget periods. Cefic and TKSD proposed a gradual "transition period" instead of postponement or deferral. The Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change stated that they have noted all these difficulties and will take the necessary steps in the shortest time to determine a roadmap that will not halt trade through evaluation.