REACH: EC Agrees on New Chemical Legislation

December 29, 2005

REACH will ensure that more information on the hazardous properties of some 30,000 chemicals is available and that information on the safe use of substances is transmitted along the industrial supply chain to reduce risks for workers, consumers and the environment.
 
REACH will reverse the burden of proof so that industry, both producers and importers of substances, rather than public authorities, will have to assume greater responsibility for providing information and taking risk management measures.

This new EU regulation will replace 40 existing legal acts and create a single system for all chemical substances. It will create a new European Chemicals Agency based in Helsinki, Finland, which will manage the registration database of substances.

REACH will require manufacturers and importers to gather information on properties of substances produced or imported in volumes over one tonne per year and to submit information to demonstrate their safe use in a registration dossier to the European Chemicals Agency. Failure to register will mean the substance cannot be manufactured in or imported to the EU market.

REACH will improve the current EU chemicals legislation, which distinguishes between so-called "existing" and "new" chemicals. All chemicals on the market before 1981 (numbering about 10,000) are called "existing" chemicals. Chemicals introduced after 1981 (about 4,300) are called "new" chemicals. While new chemicals have to be tested, there are no systematic provisions for the existing substances. Safety information is incomplete for around 99% of these existing chemicals.

The process for risk assessment of new chemicals is slow, cumbersome and resource-intensive. For example, since 1993, 140 high-volume chemicals have been singled out for risk assessment, of which only a very limited number have completed the process. The existing system discourages the introduction of new and possibly safer chemicals and gives no incentive for innovation.

The final decision on REACH is expected in autumn 2006. The Commission expects the regulation to go into force in spring 2007. The operational requirements of REACH will be applied starting in 2008.

Source: European Union (EU).