Companies who are interested in several cobalt substances are invited to consider joining the consortia as a regular member.
View the current list of Regular Consortium Members here.
Each Consortium is managed through a Steering Group comprised of all manufacturers and/or importers who are the co-registrants of the cobalt substances (Regular Members).
Technical Working Groups for each Consortium have also been set up to undertake the scientific and technical work necessary for the preparation and maintenance of the registration dossiers.
The full Consortium Steering Group meets twice a year, with at least one meeting being held in-person. A core group of members (appointed by the Steering Group) form the Executive Committee, and hold regular (monthly) teleconference call meetings. The Working Groups (Blue, Red, Green) hold full meetings in-person twice a year, and also hold regular teleconference call meetings as required. There are also several Project teams and Task groups, comprised of volunteers from the company members, who hold meetings as needed to work on specific topics and tasks, such as preparation of position papers or joint responses for public consultations.
Consortium Agreement
Example copies of the Consortium Agreement can be downloaded here:
The cost-sharing principles and illustrative costs associated with Regular Membership are outlined in the Funding Structure Document.
Benefits of Consortia Membership
Ownership of the data is a key incentive for joining the Consortium.
There are also many other benefits of Consortium membership, and these have been listed below.
Data-sharing
- Opportunities for wider cost-sharing.
- Secretariat provides management and coordination of the whole process in a timely and cost-effective way.
- Joining fees can cover membership in several cobalt consortia.
- Consortium can license the access or use of the studies/data to third parties.
- Secretariat will prepare the necessary data-sharing and/or data license agreements.
- Access to Legal advice on REACH issues and associated agreement templates on a cost-sharing basis.
- Regular members receive copies of the studies/data that goes into the core part of the dossiers (data ownership).
Participation
- Regular membership covers participation of legal Affiliates.
- Avoidance of duplication of effort by working within a larger group.
- Consortia are already working together as a group and building a consensus approach to the overall work programme.
- Representation at the Steering Group level (one company = one vote).
- Meetings are held in person, as joint sessions, and on consecutive days for convenience.
- Involved in detailed review and decisions regarding proposals for studies/testwork and associated costs, as well as review/approval of the overall consortium budgets.
Technical Aspects
- Participation in the technical discussions of the Working Groups.
- Access to knowledge and training on REACH and associated requirements.
- Technical support regarding cobalt substances, use of read-across, classification and labelling, GHS, etc.
- Support with each part of the implementation of REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals).
- Involvement in the update/maintenance of the core part of the Registration Dossiers.
- Technical knowledge gained through participation can assist companies with preparing their own part of their submission.
If you would like to know more about the requirements of REACH for cobalt compounds or about the activities of the Cobalt REACH Consortia, please contact the Secretariat at: REACHinfo@cobaltinstitute.org.
