REACh

Introduction

The European Commission issued a proposal for a Regulation on the Registration Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) on 29 October 2003. This proposal for the radical overhaul of legislation on chemicals is based on the need to upgrade the existing legislative system for the control of chemicals manufactured and imported in the European Union, which is considered to be inefficient and slow. There is also a common public perception that the existing system does not provide enough information on human health and environmental effects.

At present there are more than 40 pieces of legislation covering chemicals placed on the market in Europe. These control how chemicals are tested, labeled, assessed, marketed and restricted. However this legislation only came into force after 1981 and as a result there is limited health & safety information on the majority of chemicals placed on the market. In order to address this, the REACH Regulation was proposed which would impose specific obligations not only on manufacturers and importers of chemicals but also on their customers and downstream users from all sectors and industries. REACH aims to make these people responsible for understanding and managing the risks associated with the use of chemicals. On the 1st June 2007 this regulation will come into force. The Health and Safety Authority are responsible for implementing this European Regulation in Ireland. It is very important that industry are aware of the regulations and their obligations under it.

What is REACH?

The aim of the proposed REACH regulations is to replace the current 40 pieces of legislation with a single, coherent legislative system for new and existing chemicals.

The basic elements of the Regulation are:

• Industry must register all existing & future new substances of quantities of 1 tonne or
• more per year, with a new European Chemicals Agency
• Existing substances have to be registered within the first 11 years (the phase in period)
• These substances are prioritised based on volume produced or imported into the EU on
• an annual basis The stages involved in REACH are as follows;

Registration of substances produced or imported in volumes greater than 1tonne per year.

Evaluation of testing proposals and data provided to Agency and Member States under the registration procedure and evaluation of substances with potential risks, which may lead to the authorisation and restriction procedures.

Authorisation of specific uses of substances of high concern.

Chemicals includes chemical substances, chemical preparations, substances in articles e.g. ink in an ink jet

REACH also includes other steps such as:

Restriction - Will provide for the conditional use or a ban on the use of substances that pose unacceptable risks,

Classification and Labeling inventory - All chemicals will need to be classified and labeled before being placed on the market.

A core objective within REACH is the promotion of sustainable development by creating a balance between economic, social and environmental concerns. In other words, it hopes to improve protection of human health and the environment while enhancing the competitiveness of European Industry.

For further information, go to the Technical section of the website.