REACh: UEIL Approach

REACH regulation enters into force

On 1 June 2009, officials from the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) assumed full responsibilities for managing the REACh chemical policy. The initial job of ECHA has been to take up a six-month pre-registration exercise in which firms were expected to send a list with the basic substances, company details and expected registration dates to the agency.

This information is now used for the registration phase that will last until 2018.  ECHA greatly encourages firms to pre-register “sensitive” substances that might be dangerous.

In parallel, Member States on 7 June 2009 submitted a list of substances that now require authorisation. In addition, Member States are also considering putting in place sanctions for the non-respect of REACh. Criminal sanctions are also foreseen for the most serious cases of REACh violation.

 

Read also: REACh Information sheet.

 

REACh News

 

REACH News, June 2009

REACH News, March 2009

 

Please click here to download the latest ATIEL/ATC letter on communication up and down the supply chain.

 

The pre-registration of substances under REACH ended on 1 December 2009. However, companies that import or use a substance in the EU above one tonne per annum are entitled to apply for a 'late pre-registration' of a substance that meets any of the three 'phase-in' criteria set out in Article 3.20 of the REACH Regulation provided that they do so within six months and that they do so no later than 12 months before the scheduled registration deadline for the substance. The European Chemical Agency (ECHA) site notes that REACH-IT will only accept late pre-registrations from 5 January 2009.

 

The pre-registration phase ended controversially as REACH-IT, the tool used for pre-registering substances, was flooded with pre-registration dossiers to the extent that ECHA had foreseen to introduce a “safety net” giving companies the possibility to submit pre-registration data off-line in .xml or .xl format.

 

As regards to the so-called “candidate list”, on 28 October new obligations came into force under the REACH Regulation with the official publication of the first candidate list of 'Substances of Very High Concern' proposed for authorisation. Producer of these substances will be obliged to provide information to consumers within 45 days about the presence of candidate list substances in products, and to issue customers with safety data sheets for candidate list substances and preparations containing them if they meet the specified criteria. From 1 December 2011, companies will need to notify ECHA if candidate list substances are present in produced or imported articles above certain concentration thresholds. The obligations apply to companies producing or importing in the EU or European Economic Area (EEA).

 

To know more about REACH see also: