REACH
Background
The aim of REACH is to improve the protection of human health and the environment through the better and earlier identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical substances. At the same time, innovative capability and competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry should be enhanced. The benefits of the REACH system will come gradually, as more and more substances are phased into REACH. REACH entered into force on June 1st 2007. The EU REACH web-site link is below:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/reach/reach_intro.htm
Pre-Registration
Manufacturers and importers must pre-register substances that are already on the EU market (so-called phase-in substances), if they want to benefit from transitional arrangements that allow registering them at a later stage. A pre-registration of substances was carried out during 2008 resulted in a list of some 143 000 substances.
Registration
Registration is the first phase of REACH legislation. This requires companies to provide specified health and safety information for all substances produced, imported or placed on the EU market (applies to volumes above one tone per year) to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).
Evaluation
The ECHA Agency will perform dossier evaluation to assess testing proposals made by the registrant or to check that the registration dossiers comply with the requirements. The Agency will also co-ordinate substance evaluation, which will be conducted by the Member States to investigate chemicals of concern.
Authorization
- Authorization will be required for the prioritized Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) that are included in Annex XIV, see link below: http://echa.europa.eu/consultations/authorisation/svhc/svhc_cons_en.asp
- Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) are made up of 267 substances (may be added to the SVHC list)
- Currently 15 SVHC are on the list (5 which relate to electronics manufacturing)
Restriction
An alternative to Authorization is Restriction. Under REACH, certain chemicals can be restricted, which means they cannot be manufactured or used unless they are specifically exempted.
Disclosure
If any consumer asks, you will need to disclose the presence of any candidate SVHCs in your product above 0.1% by weight, and provide adequate safe use information to them. "Consumer" is not defined by the regulation, but essentially means anybody.
