What is the CoRAP?
A community action plan as well as its list of substances
The CoRAP (Community Rolling Action Plan) is an organization between Member States of the European Union (EU) that works on the basis of a list of chemical substances already evaluated or planning to be evaluated by a EU Member State over a period of 3 years. This list can be checked on ECHA’s website.
The CoRAP: a tool for substances prioritisation at the European scale
The CoRAP is integrated in a global European process of prioritisation of chemical substances under REACH that follows the four following steps:
The first step is a screening step which consists in identifying the substances that can potentially present hazard criteria of serious concern (e.g.: substances CMR, PBT, vPvB, endocrine disruptors, etc.) among the chemical substances listed by the EU. The substances that have been withheld during this screening phase and for which there is a lack of data, are subject to a thorough evaluation. This evaluation aims at a better understanding of their hazard properties against human health and the environment. Amongst these evaluation tools, the CoRAP list gathers all the primary substances that will be evaluated in the next three years. .
During the first year, the most urgent substances are submitted to an immediate evaluation. Their level of priority is set by the data available on their hazard, exposition, tonnage as well as on other criteria (such as other concerns and national priorities). This level of priority enables to monitor the progress of the work conducted by the Member States regarding the evaluation of the concerns of a substance.
All supporting documents for these evaluations are made available. The evaluations performed in the context of the CoRAP aim to confirm or to refute the potential worries about a substance as well as the potential need of additional data from the registrant in order to conclude on the initial problem caused by the substance.
What are the selection criteria for the substances included in the list?
ECHA and Member States decide the selection criteria of the substances based on the potential risk of these substances. These criteria are based on information regarding:
- hazards;
- information regarding exposure;
- the volume of substances
However, even if a substance matches the criteria, it does not mean that it will be included in the CoRAP. Member States can influence the inclusion of a substance in the list according to their interests and capacities.
Finalisation of the CoRAP list and effective evaluation of included substances
Once these risks have been determined, ECHA and Member States identify a number of substances that can be added to the CoRAP. Then, Member States have to indicate if they have any interest in evaluating one or several substances, in order to let the ECHA create a CoRAP project with the names of the substances and the upcoming dates of evaluation.
The CoRAP list will be updated in 2017
ECHA suggested an update of the CoRAP that plans an evaluation of 117 substances among which 22 have been newly selected. Furthermore, the ECHA recommends users of these substances to start coordinating their actions.
This plan, which is still a preliminary version at the moment, will be carried out in three key steps: 24 substances will first be evaluated in 2017, 47 in 2018 and 46 in 2019. It takes into account:
- the names of unclassified substances
- CAS (Chemical Abstracts Service) number and EC (used for chemical substances on the European market) number
- the year of attempted evaluation
- details of the Member State’s contact as well as a short indication of the concerned initial domain.
After discussing the proposal, the ECHA Member States committee will submit an opinion on the draft in February 2017.
The number of substances that will be evaluated in 2017 is smaller than expected in the previous plans. The evaluation of 32 substances was postponed to 2018 and 2019 because of the pending conformity check of these substances. In order to prevent duplicate entries, ECHA must first draw conclusions from the conformity checks for a major part of these substances before their evaluation can start.
What are the consequences for you industrial activities?
1. Public consultations for some substances may be launched
One of the means of evaluation that is at the disposal of the ECHA on the short-term is a public consultation of industrials that are concerned by the use of substance to be included to the list, in order to gather further information from industrials that use the listed substance. These public consultations are launched on a case-to-case basis by the Member State in charge of the evaluation of the substance.
2. Regulatory mechanisms adapted to each substance will be implemented after its evaluation
The consequences caused by the evaluation of a substance in the CoRAP list will depend, on a medium and long-term, on the conclusions of the CoRAP. These conclusions will result in an appropriate regulatory decision for the best risk management option related to each substance.
Examples of the regulatory mechanisms:
- Harmonised CLP classification
- restriction (Annex XVII)
- inclusion to the candidate list
- inclusion to Annex XIV
- etc.
Would you like to know more on this topic?
Do not hesitate to check the ECHA's website as well as our page on substances securing. You can also reach our experts by calling +33 (0)1 83 64 20 54 for Europe or +1 (778) 231 1607 for North America or by email contact@ecomundo.eu if you have any questions!
