REACH requires the registration of substances in quantities exceeding one ton per year produced in the EU or imported into the EU. For substances already on the market transition periods are granted. To use the transition period manufacturers and importers had to pre-register their substances by December 1, 2008 at first. The actual registration of substances will then be phased within specified time periods till mid of 2018.

In doing so, the companies file information on substances electronically in the form of technical dossiers and chemical safety reports with the newly created European Chemicals Agency in Helsinki. They must provide the necessary data for evaluation and be able to demonstrate convincingly that their products are safe to handle for all envisaged uses and do not compromise the health of processors, consumers or the environment. To indicate that the submitted dossier has been accepted, the relevant substance is given a registration number by ECHA. The agency decides whether additional information is required as part of a dossier evaluation.

Transparency and more safety at all levels

The aim of REACH is to assure the safe handling of substances for all applications. This requires an ongoing exchange of relevant information between all parties involved in the supply chain. The increased cooperation between manufacturers/importers, processors and users as a result of the improved flow of information on substance applications, conditions of use and risk management measures on account of REACH means greater transparency throughout the product chain.

• Manufacturers and importers assess the risks of using their substances and describe how to use them safely with the help of exposure scenarios.
• Dealers must pass on information obtained so as not to break the information chain.
• In this way, users receive more information on the safe handling of the relevant products, to check their own conditions of use.

REACH is everyone’s concern

There are very few chemical substances that do not need to be registered. Polymers and some natural products, pharmaceutical, biocidal and crop protection active ingredients, which are already governed by relevant regulations, are exempt from registration.

Registration of Polymers

In the case of polymers, the monomer units of polymers have to be registered. This is the responsibility of the monomer manufacturer. If polymers are to be imported into the EU, the importer must register each monomer with a level of two percent weight on weight or more in the polymer if the total imported quantity of the monomer amounts to one metric ton per year or more.