• Aggregates and dredging
• Fisheries Science Partnership
• Offshore Chemical Notification Scheme
  • About OCNS
  • Contact OCNS
  • Guide to chemical registration
  • OCNS ecotoxicology testing
  • Hazard assessment
  • Substitution warning
  • Freqently Asked Questions (FAQs)
  • Downloads and useful links
• Returning tagged fish and shellfish

Related link

• OSPAR: Oslo and Paris Commission

Guide to chemical registration

To register a product with the OCNS:

• Complete a Harmonised Offshore Chemical Notification Format (HOCNF) registration form (Word, 238 KB), ensuring for each individual component all of the data requirements are met (see below).
• Submit the completed HOCNF form together with a safety data sheet by email or post to the OCNS team at Cefas. Please submit a safety data sheet in Dutch, in addition to English, if you require a Netherlands registration.
• The OCNS team will process the data from the HOCNF form, generate a template (certificate of use) and place your chemical product on the Definitive Ranked Lists of Registered Products. The period of certification is normally for three years.
• The template shows the product name, expiry date, and CHARM type. It will also show either a Hazard Quotient (HQ) or an OCNS letter grouping representing the environmental hazard of that particular product.
• The OCNS team will normally complete the assessment within an eight-week period from the date the completed HOCNF is received. Applications can be submitted up to six months before the expiry date of the product.
• Guidance on completing the HOCNF can be found on the OSPAR website.

Data requirements for OCNS registration

All chemical components (except PLONORs [Word, 227 KB]) and those on the REACH (EC 1907/2006) Annex IV must have the following:

1. full chemical name, molecular weight, CAS number and EINECS, ELINCS or REACH registration number*
2. biodegradation and bioaccumulation (Log P_ow) data
3. full OCNS ecotoxicity data (algae, crustacean, fish and sediment-dweller*), expressed as either EC₅₀ or LC₅₀.

Field trial registration

A field trial registration lasts for a period of six months and requires the following data:

1. full composition data with CAS numbers*
2. either a biodegradation or a bioaccumulation result for each component
3. ecotoxicity data from at least one species for each component, or full 'product-based' ecotoxicity data
4. approximate start date for field trial.*

* If applicable