European and Australian Chemical Agencies Agree to Cooperate on Chemical Safety

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and the Australian Government's National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS), have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to "enhance co-operation" in an effort to "improve chemical safety."  The MOU will allow the two agencies to share expertise on technical matters on, among other things, "the hazards and emerging risks of chemical substances, risk management tools, scientific collaboration and information exchange."

This isn't the first cooperative arrangement for ECHA.   They signed a "statement of intent" with the USEPA last December in which the two agencies agreed to "share data, cooperate with each other on chemical reviews, and even exchange staff."

According to ECHA:

One of the anticipated areas of collaboration will be exchange of information. For example, the Memorandum of Understanding will promote the exchange of non-confidential information on hazards, uses and identity of chemical substances between ECHA and NICNAS. The agencies will also be sharing information on ways to more efficiently address chemicals of concern.

The full MOU can be downloaded as a PDF file here.