Chris Said, the Parliamentary Secretary for Consumers, Fair Competition, Local Councils and Public Diaglogue, has spoken during the board meeting of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) which is being held today in Gozo.

In his speech he welcomed on behalf of the government, Mr. Thomas Jakl, chairperson, Mr. Geert Dancet, Executive Director, Members of the Board, staff of the Agency and observers to Gozo.

The speech in full is shown below:

“In its role as the competent authority for chemicals legislation in Malta, the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority has played a very active role in the long discussions leading to the adoption of the REACH Regulation.

From the outset, Malta recognized the importance of having a comprehensive legislative framework on chemicals at EU level that would

• ensure a high level of protection for health and the environment;

• safeguard and enhance competitiveness and the good reputation enjoyed by European industry;

• as well as serve as a role model for other jurisdictions, given the global nature of the chemicals and related industries.

Through the practical experience of the officers of the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority in its actions as regulator in a country dominated by SMEs and micro enterprises, many of which are downstream users of specialised chemicals, Malta sought to bring to the negotiating table its strong belief that good legislation must be workable legislation.

Malta believes that ambitious objectives can be pursued without prejudice to legitimate economic interests. Above all, Malta, together with other Member States, ensured that the interests of small enterprises and downstream users, which constitute a major portion of the EU industry, were constantly kept in mind during the discussions.

This was particularly true in the case of the low volume substances, which were a particularly difficult issue that needed to be addressed during negotiations. Despite its limitations, Malta was also active in the very important work carried out at technical level to support the introduction of REACH, through the MCCAA officials. Malta still considers that the approach taken in the adoption of REACH, namely accompanying the legislative proposal with a comprehensive supporting package of guidance and tools, as well as detailed impact assessment, remains a role model and best practice for the development of major legislative acts.

All these efforts culminated in Malta, taking a very active role during the discussions in Brussels and elsewhere, firstly through the so called ´Maltese-Slovenian proposal´, developed jointly with our Slovenian colleagues, and eventually through strongly supporting the crucial breakthroughs achieved by a number of succeeding Presidencies, who managed to garner far wider support for the final agreement than could have been expected at an earlier stage.

Many of you remember Mr. Martin Seychell who as a Malta Standards Authority official was responsible to handle the negotiations on behalf of Malta. Mr. Seychell is today the Deputy Director General responsible for Consumers and Health within the European Commission – DG Health and Consumer.

Due to the MCCAA’s commitment and perseverance, all the necessary preparations were up and running by when the Regulation entered into force in June 2007. This included the enactment of national legal provisions for the implementation of the Regulation and also a series of seminars and workshops aimed at informing the local stakeholders of the new legal requirements and also to prepare them for the new obligations. The participation and interest shown during these events and also the numerous one-to-one meetings and queries received gave witness of the success of the ‘REACH Campaign’ which was undertaken.

Other challenges which have also been successfully targeted were the various deadlines:

• the first being the pre-registration deadline of 1st December 2008 which brought about a large influx of queries and requests for information;

• and also those deadlines brought about by the CLP Regulation namely the entry into force of the legislation on 1st December 2010;

• and the deadline for the notification of substance classification of the 3rd January 2011.

The setting up of a national helpdesk proved to be a valuable tool in helping the competent authority in providing the necessary assistance required by the industry. I have been informed that the success of this approach has inspired MCCAA to implement the ‘helpdesk idea’ to other areas under its remit which did not legally require such a function. This included the areas dealing with product safety, cosmetics and pesticides to name a few.

Today, Malta is equally supportive of REACH and its objectives and has taken all necessary steps to ensure full implementation of the Regulation, not only from a procedural point of view, but also in substance and spirit, particularly by maintaining a high level of contact with stakeholders as well as providing support and guidance wherever needed. REACH was but one example where MCCAA demonstrated that, even though it is a small organization, it has been a major player in supporting the Maltese Government’s policies and efforts, aimed at creating a more competitive, sustainable and responsible industry.

As you may have noticed, I have been constantly referring to MCCAA, the new authority regulating competition and consumer affairs in Malta, which has absorbed the Malta Standards Authority – the body which most probably you are more familiar with. The Malta Standards Authority, throughout its 11-year existence, did some sterling work for this country. I am convinced that the new authority, MCCAA, will be following in its footsteps.

While I augur that the Board meeting in Malta will be a successful one, I strongly encourage you to delve into the history of these islands which is unique and also to visit the various places of interest both in Gozo and Malta. May I remind you that Malta has the largest number of World Heritage Sites per square kilometre in the world. In other words, you are spoilt for choice.”

Permalink: European Chemicals Agency board meeting held in Gozo