First REACH list brings new legal duties for companies

As the first list of 15 chemicals of “very high concern” was published on Tuesday (28 October), the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is urging companies to find out about their new obligations under the scheme.

“All companies should take note of the candidate list. It is critical [that] they know that the inclusion of the substances in the list generates immediate new legal obligations [from the date of inclusion] for the communication in the supply chain,” said ECHA Executive Director Geert Dancet.

According to ECHA, the obligations are linked to the listed substances themselves, their preparation and in wider products. They mainly concern the duty of suppliers, producers and importers to provide their customers and consumers with information, notify ECHA or provide sheets of safety data.

The candidate list contains fifteen Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC), but another 28 substances already figure in the registry of intentions, a list of chemicals which either an EU country or the European Commission plans to suggest be included on the candidate list. 

Since the general registration of substances for safety screening and registration opened in June, over 600,000 substances have already been pre-registered by companies in the ECHA’s REACH-IT portal. As the deadline of 1 December approaches, the agency notes that the activity on the portal has increased, causing delays in processing submitted dossiers.

The substances on the candidate list will be the ones to feature on a ‘priority list’, meaning that they need to go through special scrutiny before they are authorised. The priority list will thus be drafted based on the candidate list. It is due for publication in June 2009. 

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