REACH
What is REACH ?
REACH is a new European Community Regulation on chemicals and
their safe use (EC 1907/2006). It deals with the
Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and
Restriction of Chemical substances. The new law entered into
force on 1 June 2007.
The aim of REACH is to improve the protection of human health and
the environment through the better and earlier identification of the
intrinsic properties of chemical substances. At the same time,
innovative capability and competitiveness of the EU chemicals
industry should be enhanced. The benefits of the REACH system will
come gradually, as more and more substances are phased into
REACH.
The REACH Regulation gives greater responsibility to industry to
manage the risks from chemicals and to provide safety information on
the substances. Manufacturers and importers will be required to
gather information on the properties of their chemical substances,
which will allow their safe handling, and to register the
information in a central database run by the European Chemicals
Agency (ECHA) in Helsinki. The Agency will act as the central
point in the REACH system: it will manage the databases necessary to
operate the system, co-ordinate the in-depth evaluation of
suspicious chemicals and run a public database in which consumers
and professionals can find hazard information.
The Regulation also calls for the progressive substitution of the
most dangerous chemicals when suitable alternatives have been
identified. For more information read: REACH
in Brief.
REACH has been developed in a climate of transparency and
consultation. The Commission has held extensive dialogue
with stakeholders before and after the proposal was presented.
Stakeholders sent over 6000 responses during the REACH
internet consultation and contributed to the REACH Impact
Assessment both before and after the launch of the Commission
REACH proposal in 2003. This helped the Commission to improve the
design and cost-effectiveness of the system and subsequently the
European Parliament and the Council of the European Union to amend
the proposal under the co-decision procedure.
REACH provisions will be phased-in over 11 years. Companies can
find explanations of REACH in the guidance
documents and can address themselves to a number of helpdesks.
The Commission will carry out a number of reviews
of REACH Annexes within 18 months after entry into force
(Annexes I, IV, V, XI, XIII).
Legislative texts of REACH
Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 is the central act of
the new European chemicals policy. It is often referred to as the
"REACH Regulation".
Directive 2006/121/EC contains technical
adaptations of Directive
67/548/EEC that are necessary in the light of the new REACH
Regulation (Directive 67/548 concerns the classification, packaging
and labelling of dangerous substances and applies in parallel with
REACH). |
