The European Chemicals Agency started its operations in Helsinki at the beginning of June. The location of the Agency in Helsinki will provide scope for the creation of new business operations and a centre of expertise in Finland.

"The coming into force of the REACH Regulation and the start-up of the Chemicals Agency means the beginning of a totally new era for chemical-industry companies in Europe," says Hannu Vornamo, Director General of the Chemical Industry Federation of Finland.

Getting the Chemicals Agency for Helsinki was, Vornamo says, a stroke of luck. "The Chemicals Agency can mean the beginning of a new internationality for Helsinki. Whether Helsinki will develop into a real European chemicals city remains to be seen. Success is up to us."

Jukka Malm, the project manager who has been preparing the establishment of the Agency in Helsinki and the Export Services Director at the Finnish Environment Institute, has confidence in Finnish companies.

"The implementation of the obligations in REACH will generate wide-scale business operations throughout the entire EU region. Finnish companies are well-placed to become major players in this market. We will, however, have to be active in terms of investment and also quick off the mark."

New corporate activity

In order to be able to exploit the opportunities created by the Agency, new corporate activity and a number of Finnish REACH service companies will be needed. "The expertise and high-level research already in the country will be best exploited in this way," Vornamo stresses.

The Chemicals Agency will create around it a wide, polymorphous network of experts and expert organizations to handle matters such as the testing and laboratory work, assessment, training, consulting and conference services. Information-technology needs will also increase.

The creation of a cluster of expertise will require investment by the companies in developing REACH know-how and, on the other hand, strong cooperation with other companies in the sector. "The so-called full-service REACH companies or company consortiums will gain priority on the market," Malm believes.

One of the EU's biggest

The Chemicals Agency will become one of the EU's biggest from about 20 separate agencies. Its staff requirement has been put at between 400 and 500. The Agency will grow to this size during the first few years of operation.

"Preparations are proceeding well. The recruitment of staff is currently ongoing and the choice of Director General will be made during the autumn. In the interim period from the beginning of June the position will be filled by Geert Dancet," Malm says.

The aim is to obtain staff for the Agency from as wide a range of Member States as possible. "In planning the services we want to ensure that Finland and Helsinki are felt to be attractive workplaces."

No Regulation without the Agency

The Chemicals Agency is an organization specializing in assessing and controlling the risks from chemicals. Its main function is to give scientific and technical support in implementing the REACH Regulation. The Agency will also play a central role in putting the Regulation into practice. Without the Agency the Regulation will not work.

The Agency has concrete tasks related to putting the system into effect and an important role in promoting the uniform implementation of the Regulation in the entire EU area. The Agency will administer the widest section of REACH as far as industry is concerned, a registration procedure concerning some 30,000 substances.

"Substances that may be hazardous to health or the environment will be identified on the basis of registration dossiers. The task of the Agency in assessing the substances is to draw up an EU-wide assessment programme and coordinate the assessment work done by the Member States," Malm says.

The Agency is situated in the centre of Helsinki, which has good connections to the airport. There are also an adequate number of hotels in the centre to meet the needs of EU conferences.