ECHA to fine firms wrongly registered as SMEs

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has said it will charge firms that have wrongly claimed to be entitled to a fee reduction or waiver because of their small size. Fines will apply from December, the day after the first REACH registration deadline.

If the size of a company is found to be larger than registered under the chemicals regulation, the firm will have to pay up to €20,700. There are four different levels of fine depending on the size of the company: non-SMEs, medium, small and micro.