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EC promotes REACH pre-registration scheme

By Gareth Macdonald, 16-Apr-2008

Related topics: Excipients, raw materials and intermediates, Ingredients

The European Commission (EC) has launched a promotional campaign urging European chemicals companies to pre-register for the new REACH chemicals regulations to avoid potential disruption to operations.

The REACH (registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals) regulations, which came into effect in June last year, require that European firms importing or manufacturing more than one tonne of a specific chemical a year register it with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) before the first of December this year.

 

 

 

Pre-registration will allow chemicals firms to submit full registration dossiers for after the December 1 deadline in accordance with the scheme's extension regulations. Those companies that fail to pre-register will be required to make a full submission by December 1 or cease importation and manufacturing operations involving unregistered compounds.

 

 

 

The EC predicted that the REACH regulations will affect around 30,000 chemicals currently in use in Europe and added that it is expecting to receive 180,000 registrations submissions between June and December this year. Details of registered compounds will be made available in a public database in January next year.

 

 

Integrated control mechanism

 

 

The REACH program, which was conceived in 1998, is designed to provide an integrated control mechanism for the production, importation and use of chemicals in Europe. The system requires that chemicals manufacturers and importers systematically assess and manage the risks that such products may pose to human health and the environment.

 

 

 

The legislation has been specifically designed to address both new chemicals and those that are currently used. A phased process will gather information on existing chemicals over the next 11 years, while new compounds will only be authorized for use if they comply with the REACH rules.

 

 

 

Additionally, firms making or importing more than 10 tonnes of a particular chemical a year are required to submit a chemical safety report assessing the potential risks associated with the compound as well as any specific control measures that should be used.

 

 

 

BASF's REACH seminar

 

 

The commission's campaign was unveiled at a joint EC/ECHA workshop in Brussels as part of a general industry-wide effort to raise awareness or the new regulations, and pre-registration in particular.

 

 

 

In recent months, for example, German chemicals giant BASF has been actively involved in educating industry stakeholders about the REACH regulations. The firm is due to hold another expert seminar in May that is specifically designed to address pre-registration issues.

 

 

 

Andreas Kicherer, head of BASF success team, explained that the seminar was designed to "respond to the huge interest and still-rising demand for detailed information on REACH."

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