Highlights from the General Assembly Meeting
 

The 2022 General Assembly meeting which took place virtually on May 5th discussed general issues related to the smooth running of the consortium as well as possible threats emanating from ECHA/the Commission by way of potential Restrictions/Authorisation related to the use of several Mn substances within the EU amongst other things.

The meeting saw the following decisions taken

The GA agreed a on methodology to redistribute income from Non-EU REACH data sales. MARA’s assets in the form of study reports are being sold for the purposes of Non-EU regulatory compliance in the hope of sharing knowledge on the toxicity profile of Mn-based substances in view of a worldwide harmonising the classification. The GA agreed that if the entire industry use the same data – then industry will settle for the same classification.
 

MARA’s Office: The GA discussed the need of an actual office versus a virtual office from a financial standpoint. Considering that work was still effective during the pandemic lockdown, it was clear that a virtual office will reduce cost without affecting the quality of work carried out by the Consortium. To this end, the GA approved for MARA to seek advice from the French authorities on the possibility of a Not-for-profit organisation to be domicile virtually.
 

Harmonised Categorization of Slags across the EU: The GA approved a way to fund this special project. The project which considers the present regulatory constraints on the use or disposal of slags across the EU to be non-harmonised is aimed at creating a level playing field guided by a harmonised regulatory standpoint for all players within the EU. The project intends to use a robust socio-economic analysis and lobbying of the authorities to achieve its goes.