On 18 may 2018, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) published the consolidated opinion of the Risk Assessment Committee (RAC) and Socio-Economic Assessment Committee (SEAC) on the retriction of diisocyanates, marking important step in legislative developments towards the final proposal of the European Commission.

ALIPA and ISOPA, representing diisocyantes producers, welcome the progression of this process and call upon the European Commission to continue to support the work that has been carried out jointly by industry and regulators thus far. The European Commission is expected to draft a proposal within 3 months for a REACH restriction of diisocyanates. THE REACH authorities of the EU Member States will then discuss and agree on this proposal. The regulation is expected to be adopted by the European Union in 2018 or 2019. A transition period is expected to adequately allow for the introduction of the measures throughout the supply chain. In parallel, industry foresees the development of the training material and the actual training of all affected workers to be carried out over the next 6 years.

Here the full press release and a link to the ECHA documents.