European Chemicals Agency

Headquarters in Helsinki
Agency overview
Formed	1 June 2007 (2007-06-01)
Type	Regulatory Agency of the European Union
Headquarters	Helsinki, Finland 60°09′29″N 24°55′57″E / 60.1581°N 24.9325°E / 60.1581; 24.9325
Employees	600
Agency executive	Sharon McGuinness, Executive Director
Key document	Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006
Website	echa.europa.eu
Map
Helsinki European Chemicals Agency (European Union)

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA; /ˈɛkə/ EK-ə) is an agency of the European Union working for the safe use of chemicals. It manages the technical and administrative aspects of the implementation of the European Union regulation called Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). ECHA is the driving force among regulatory authorities in implementing the EU's chemicals legislation. ECHA has to ascertain that companies comply with the legislation, advances the safe use of chemicals, provides information on chemicals and addresses chemicals of concern. It is located in Helsinki, Finland. ECHA is an independent and mature regulatory agency established by REACH. It is not a subsidiary entity of the European Commission.^[1]

The agency, currently headed by Executive Director Dr Sharon McGuinness,^[2] started working on 1 June 2007.