Registers of hazardous chemicals in Georgia

In 2015 the WHO European Centre for Environment and Health, with the National Centre for Disease Control and Public Health and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia, implemented a two-year project funded by the German Federal Environmental Agency Advisory Assistance Programme. Its purpose was to develop a legislative and operational framework for collection and sharing of information on hazardous chemicals in Georgia, as well as to devise a model register/inventory of hazardous chemicals. The project aimed to strengthen interagency cooperation and to raise awareness of information collection and sharing and of its importance in the implementation of sound chemicals management.

The project also provided multiple long-term benefits for implementation of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) and development of a registration system comparable with the European Union chemicals policy, Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). Lessons learned from project implementation and the achievements in creating a national register in Georgia were shared with other Member States, several of which expressed interest in combining efforts and building on Georgia’s experience.