REACH: EU firms urged to register chemicals

The European Commission has launched an early registration campaign for REACH amid concerns that many companies are unaware of the obligations facing them under the EU’s new chemicals regime.

EU firms that make or import more than one tonne of chemical substances per year need to pre-register with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in Helsinki between 1 June and 1 December 2008 or face interruptions to their business, the Commission said on 11 April.  

As part of their pre-registration, companies need to provide ECHA with data on the health and safety impact of the substances. This data is then used by ECHA for the final registration and market authorisation of the substance. A transition period for final registration of between two and ten years applies to pre-registered substances.

Around 30,000 chemicals are affected by the registration requirement, a key part of the EU’s controversial REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) regulation, which entered into force on 1 June 2007.

The drive applies in particular to new substances, as these will not be permitted on the market after 1 December unless they have been pre-registered. Thus firms that fail to pre-register new substances will not be permitted to carry on importing or making those substances until they have registered with the ECHA, an interruption that could last several months, according to the Commission.

So-called phase-in substances, existing substances that are subjected to the REACH regime only after a delayed phase-in period, also need to pre-register in order to qualify for specific extensions for final registration.

Brussels is concerned that not all firms, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) not directly involved in chemicals manufacturing or importing, understand the scope and implications of the new law, which applies to chemical substances used in a wide range of industrial process, consumer goods and beyond.

“It might be the case that some companies are not completely aware” about their obligations under REACH, a Commission spokesperson said. The EU executive is expecting over 180,000 registrations between June and December.

ECHA is expected to publish a database of information about registered substances as of 1 January 2009. The database will be publicly accessible and will contain information about individual substances but not about the companies that registered them.

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