The Subcommittee for Products follows the new and pending EU legislation on chemicals and its implementation in Finland. It takes part in drafting Finland's opinions on chemicals legislation under preparation in the EU. The subcommittee has been engaged in particular by the following directives and their amendments and technical adaptations:
·
the Dangerous Substances Directive,
· the Dangerous Preparations Directive,
· the Limitations Directive,
· the Existing Substances Regulation
· the new REACH regulation under preparation
The Subcommittee for International Affairs
The
Subcommittee for International Affairs monitors, informs and takes
a stand on international cooperation in the field of chemicals. The
subcommittee monitors in particular: the Chemical Safety Programme
of the OECD;
· EU provisions concerning chemicals and their coordination
within the OECD;
· activities of the Chemicals Group of the Nordic Council of
Ministers;
· the United Nations' sub-organisations; the Programme of
Action of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED),
the Environment Programme (UNEP);
· Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management
(SAICM)
· the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety
(IFCS);
· the North-Eastern Atlantic Environment Protection
Commission (OSPAR) and the Baltic Marine Environment Protection
Commission (HELCOM),
· activities of the United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe (UNECE),
· preparation of the Globally Harmonised System (GHS) for the
classification and labelling of chemicals
The Subcommittee for Biocides
The subcommittee takes part in drafting Finland's opinions for the meetings of the competent authorities of the Biocides Directive. The subcommittee informs of topical issues concerning the Directive and takes care of the cooperation between both national and international parties relating to biocides.