What are the key components of REACH?

Pre-Registration / Registration
Under REACH, manufacturers and importers of chemicals in volumes of one tonne or more per year will have to register them with a new European Chemicals Agency. If above 10 T/y, a Chemical Safety Report will have to be submitted that documents the chemical safety assessment. In preparing the registration, companies can use existing data and share data. The producers, importers and downstream users will also have to pass information up and down the supply chain.

For existing substances, there is a pre-registration period from June 2008 to November 2008. This period has been put in place to benefit from a phasing scheme for registration. After pre-registration, Substance information Exchange Fora (SIEFs) will be established, which are designed to facilitate the exchange of information between manufacturers and importers of same substances as well as to avoid duplication of studies and to agree on classification and labeling. 

Evaluation
The European Chemicals Agency will check completeness of the dossiers and will review testing proposals. The EU Member States will evaluate substances. Additional information can be requested or changes in safety measures if necessary. At this stage, all proposals will be scrutinized to ensure that any proposed animal testing is kept to a minimum.

Authorization
Selected substances will be subject to authorization by the Commission’s European Chemical Agency. These substances include: CMRs cat 1 & 2 (carcinogens, mutagens and reproductive toxins), PBTs (persistent, bio accumulative and toxic substances), vPvBs (very persistent and very bio accumulative substances) and substances of equivalent concern with scientific evidence of probable serious effects on a cases-by-case basis. For companies that requested for authorization, substances will be authorized for a specified time period and only for specific uses when a number of conditions are met.

Establishment of a European Chemicals Agency
As part of the planned reforms, the EU has establish a European Chemicals Agency that will be located in Helsinki. Its purpose is to manage the technical, scientific and administrative aspects of REACH and to establish consistency across the EU.