About REACH
REACH is the Regulation for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation of Chemicals
What is REACH?
REACH is the Regulation for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals. It entered into force on 1st June 2007 to change the former legislative framework on chemicals of the European Union (EU). REACH places greater responsibility on industry to manage the risks that chemicals may pose to the health and the environment.In principle REACH applies to all chemicals: not only chemicals used in industrial processes but also in our day-to-day life, for example in cleaning products, paints as well as in articles such as clothes, furniture and electrical appliances.
What are the objectives?
The aims of REACH as described in the Regulation and on the European Chemicals Agency webpages:Who will be affected?
All actors in the chemical supply chain will be affected by REACH including manufacturers, importers, formulators, and downstream users. EU manufacturers and importers of chemical substances, preparations, or substances contained in articles intended for release, will have to Register those substances if the volume placed on the market exceeds 1 tonne per annum per Legal Entity.Registration takes place during the next decade, with the timing dependent on the volumes, but to benefit from this extended period the manufacturers and importers will have to Pre-register the substances between 1 June and 30 November 2008. Failure to pre-register means that the substance is liable to immediate Registration and must come off the market during the Registration process. Failure to Register at the due time means the substance can no longer be placed on the market at all; hence the phrase ‘No data, no market’.
Customers and users of chemicals are known as Downstream users (DU). They will be provided with Chemical Safety Reports (CSR) to enable them to handle the products they buy in a safe manner. However, in order to receive this CSR, the DU’s are obliged to inform their suppliers as to how the products are used. If the DU wishes to keep this information confidential, then they have to prepare their own CSR and send this to the European Chemicals Agency. Some companies will be both suppliers and Downstream Users and therefore will have the requirement to pass information up and down the supply chain.
Non-EU suppliers are not permitted to Register substances. They will only be able to export their chemical products if they have an EU-based importer or they appoint an ‘Only Representative’ in the EU to handle the Registration and volume tracking obligations. The EU based importers will be fully liable for compliance with the REACH regulations. Nevertheless, any substance imported into the EU at volumes less than 1 tonne per annum per Legal Entity do not have to be pre-registered or Registered and therefore do not fall within the scope of REACH.
Non-EU suppliers are not permitted to Register substances. They will only be able to export their chemical products if they have an EU-based importer or they appoint an ‘Only Representative’ in the EU to handle the Registration and volume tracking obligations. The EU based importers will be fully liable for compliance with the REACH regulations. Nevertheless, any substance imported into the EU at volumes less than 1 tonne per annum per Legal Entity do not have to be pre-registered or Registered and therefore do not fall within the scope of REACH.
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