REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) is a new European regulation stipulating that all manufacturers of chemicals must identify the risks posed by their substances to human health and on the environment. They also have to register these substances for their applications. All manufacturers or importers of chemicals in Europe will be very busy during the next few years to comply with the REACH regulations.
The end users can normally rely on the registration obligation of their suppliers (manufacturers, importers) but the end users have the obligation, as Downstream Users, to inform the suppliers about the application requirements of the substances, as all applications have to be registered.
Bodo Möller Chemie works closely with our suppliers concerning the registration obligation. Bodo Möller Chemie is in between the manufacturers and the downstream users and must therefore lead the communication so that the applications of our customers can be registered. In the near future we will organise a questionnaire for this purpose and forward the collected data to our manufacturers.
Bodo Möller Chemie is also willing to limit our business relations only to manufacturers that consider REACH as a priority and are commited to fulfil the REACH requirements.
Core elements of the new REACH regulation:
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All substances produced or imported in quantities of 1 tonne or more per year must be registered by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in Helsinki.
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A technical dossier must be completed. The requirements vary with the production and importation volumes (1, 10, 100, 1000t per year).
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For substances in quantity of 10t or more a Chemical Safety Report must be completed.
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Substances with very high concern need an authorisation.
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All substances on the market will have to be pre-registered between 1. June and 1. December 2008. At the end of the deadline, non-registered substances will be considered as „new substances” without transition period.
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The substance registration will take place progressively depending of the tonnage. Over the next 3 years for tonnage >1000t, 6 years for >100t, 11 years for >1t, CMR substances from 1t and hazardous substances from 100t over the next 3 years.
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Manufacturers and importers must provide their customers with information about safe utilization and identified use.
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All relevant data must be delivered with the Annexes VII (1-10t/a), VII und VIII (10-100t/a), VII-IX (100-1000t/a) and VII-X (1000t/a).
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The following hazardous substances are required to obtain authorisation: carcinogenic, mutagenic, toxic to reproduction (CMR), persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substances (PBT) and very persistent and very bioaccumulative substances (vPvB), as well as endocrine disrupters.
