ECHA Board Decisions in Fee Disputes

The European Chemicals Agency's (ECHA) board of appeal has published its first two final decisions on appeals against decisions adopted by ECHA under the Reach Regulation 1.

In both cases, the appellants had paid the fee required for the registration of a substance after the expiry of the deadlines set by the agency. According to the Reach Regulation and the associated Fee Regulation 2, non-payment of the registration fee by the set deadline will result in the registration being rejected with any late fee not being refunded.

While both cases dealt with the late payment of the registration fee, the particular circumstances of the cases are different. The board of appeal decided in favor of the appellant in one case and in favor of ECHA in the other. In one case, the appellant wanted a refund of the registration fee; the board ordered ECHA to refund the money. In the other case, the appellant asked to board to annul the decision rejecting the registration. However, the board sided with ECHA, stating that the agency had acted correctly in rejecting the registration.