Nordic and European cooperation
The Chemical Inspection Service cooperates with the Nordic and European authorities.
Nordic cooperation
The Chemical Inspection Services in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Denmark join together in the formal "Nordic Inspection Group" under the Nordic Council of Ministers' Nordic Chemical Group.
The group works to set up and maintain a network of inspection service staff; to contribute jointly to selected inspection areas; and to coordinate Nordic efforts in cooperation with the rest of Europe.
Read the reports on the website of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
European cooperation
FORUM
The Forum for Exchange of Information on Enforcement ( FORUM ) coordinates a network of Member State authorities responsible for enforcement and has the task to:
- Spread good practice and highlight problems at Community level
- Propose, coordinate and evaluate harmonised enforcement projects and joint expectations
- Coordinate exchange of inspections
- Identify enforcement strategies, as well as best practice in enforcement
- Develop working methods and tools of use to local inspectors
- Develop an electronic information exchange procedure
- Liaise with industry, taking particular account of the specific needs of SMEs, and other stakeholders, including relevant international organisations, as necessary
- Examine proposals for restrictions with a view to advising on enforceability
- Agree common issues to be covered in the annual reports from the Member States in relation to enforcement
The Forum is composed of members appointed by member States. The Forum meets 2 to 3 times a year. Working groups dealing with different areas are established.
CLEEN
The authorities that inspect chemicals in Europe are cooperating on supervision of chemical substances and products in CLEEN (Chemical Legislation European Enforcement Network).
The Network aims at strengthening cooperation among European chemical inspection services, thus improving the knowledge and understanding of and compliance with chemicals regulation. The Network also aims at making sure that manufacturers and importers operate under equal conditions in all countries.
RoHS
The Chemical Inspection Serivice participates actively in the RoHS Enforcement Network, which plans control campaigns enforcing the RoHS directive. More information about RoHS can be found in the Danish EPA fact sheet on Electrical and electronical equipment (RoHS) .
PEMSAC
In the cosmetics area the Chemical Inspection Service participates in PEMSAC, the Platform of European Market Surveillance Authorities in Cosmetics. The aim of the network is to facilitate cooperation by:
- Coordinating activities
- Exchanging information
- Developing and implementing joint projects
- Exchanging expertise and best practices in the field of cosmetics market surveillance.
The members of PEMSAC are the representatives of market surveillance authorities of all the Member States and they meet once a year in plenary and in two technical groups dealing with market surveillance and analytical methods.
RAPEX
The Chemical Inspection Service receives warnings (notifications) from other EU Member States about dangerous chemical properties in cosmetics, toys and other product categories. Each EU Member State is obligated to notify the EU Commission if dangerous products are found. The system is called RAPEX, The RaPid Alert System fir Non-Food Products.
All products which are notified in the RAPEX system can be found on the EU-Commission RAPEX Website.
The website of other Nordic authorities:
Norway www.miljødirektoratet.no
Sweden www.kemi.se
Finland www.valvira.fi
Iceland www.ust.is