REACH - Chemicals

The system is designed to deliver the basis for responsible handling by industry of the chemicals. It also covers evaluation, authorisation and restrictions of chemicals.

Basic facts about REACH

REACH establishes an EU wide regulatory framework for the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals. REACH integrates more than 40 pieces of legislation and assesses existing and new chemicals in an harmonised way.

The REACH Regulation strengthens the responsibility of industry to provide safety information on substances and to properly manage the risks arising from their use. With certain exemptions all substances on their own, in preparations and in articles are covered by the Regulation.

Under REACH manufacturers and importers are obliged to register with the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) substances that they produce or import in quantities above 1 tonne per year, unless the substance is exempted from registration. Failure to register means that the substance cannot be manufactured in the Community or placed on the EU market ("no data - no market"). The pre-registration period ran from June 2008 to December 2008. Pre-registation is a precondition for making use of the phase-in timelines for existing substances.

Before the pre-registration began The European Chemical Agency (ECHA) expected to receive 180.000. During the pre-registration ECHA ended up receiving 2.700.000 pre-registrations from 65.000 different companies. This unexpected high number of pre-registrations resulted in different problems with the REACH-IT registration system that handles the dossiers from the companies. In total almost 150.000 different substances was pre-registered which is much more than the expected 30.000.

REACH reinforces communication obligations up and down the supply chain, that is between manufacturers, importers of substances on their own or in preparations and downstream users.

REACH foresees authorisation procedures for substances, which have been identified as of very high concern and which are firstly included in the so-called candidate list. Besides authorisation REACH also foresees restriction procedures which regulate conditions for the manufacture, placing on the market or use of certain substances if their use represents too high a risk to human health or the environment.

The UN's Globally Harmonised System for Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) will be incorporated in REACH, possibly by end 2008.

DI Position

It is essential for industry to make the new legislation work. Therefore, DI is active in the cooperation between Member States, the Commission, ECHA and stakeholders on the implementation of REACH and the development of EU Guidelines to help to understand the complicated system.

DI has also build up a helpdesk, in Danish, to assist companies to fulfil the REACH requirements.