On the 6^th of December 2018, the 12^th edition of the "Conference & Networking Lunch: Implementation of the REACH&CLP regulations and future challenges" was held in the Chamber of Commerce. The event was organised by the REACH&CLP Helpdesk Luxembourg with the support of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Infrastructure and the Ministry of the Economy.

This new edition welcomed 50 participants who were able to discuss with the team of the REACH&CLP Helpdesk Luxembourg, the speakers as well as other participants the topic of REACH & CLP during a networking lunch.

The first part of the conference was opened by Mr Lucien Hoffmann, Director of the LIST ERIN department, who emphasized in his welcome speech that although the last major deadline for the REACH regulation has passed, there is still many challenges that companies face in the context of legislation on chemicals. It is in this sense that the REACH&CLP Luxembourg Helpdesk first presented (on behalf of the European Chemicals Agency - ECHA) the latest results of the registration deadline for small tonnages which has been completed on the 1^st of June 2018. However, the Helpdesk also pointed out that registration requirements are not finished and companies should be careful to keep their registration dossiers up to date but they will also have to face to the possible feedback from ECHA which will assess the compliance of these dossiers. To echo this first presentation, a Luxembourgish company - Saint Gobain Abrasives - came back on the challenge of registering substances but also expressed the future challenges that the company will face such as Brexit or to continue improving the communication of information along the supply chain. Finally, to close this first part, the Helpdesk presented the REACH review, which is done every 5 years, and underlined the fact that even if it has set out actions that need to be taken, it has also confirmed that its legal requirements and obligations are appropriate for the desired needs and objectives.

The second part of the conference focused on the future challenges that companies will face in the next years. It is in this sense that the Administration of the Environment (AEV) has first presented the various enforcement projects that will take place in Luxembourg, such as controls on restrictions and the conformity of mixtures and articles. The AEV then returned to the latest updates on the authorisation of biocidal products and reminded some national provisions.

Finally, this new edition was closed with the presentation of the LIFE AskREACH project, in which the LIST is involved with 20 other partners, intends to develop innovative IT tools to enable this "right to know" about the substances of very high concern that are contained in consumer articles. The presentation of the project has been completed by the demo of the future database for companies and the smartphone App for consumers which will allow them to obtain information about the articles they buy but also to send a request to a company to obtain information. Thereafter, the Inspection du Travail et des Mines (ITM) presented the interface between the REACH regulation and legislation on Occupational Safety and Health. On its side, the Helpdesk came back on several challenges, some of which are already known to companies, such as the substitution of the most dangerous substances, but others are new as the new harmonised format that companies will have to use when they have the obligation to declare a dangerous mixtures they place on the market.

More information on the annual conference is available <link https: www.list.lu en news httpswwwlistluennewsannual-reach-conference-implementation-of-reachclp-regulations-and-chall _blank>here. The presentations can be downloaded from the dedicated <link en support resource-center events event-detail reachclp-annual-conference-2018-implementation-and-future-challenges-for-companies _blank>event webpage.