REACH

The Council Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) has been described as the “most complex piece of legislation in EU history”. Entering into force on 1 June 2007, the Regulation constitutes the basic law for any business involved in chemical substances in the European Union. It is meant to improve the protection of human health and the environment, as well as the enhancement of innovation and competitiveness of the chemical industry in the EU. For this end the intrinsic properties of chemical substances shall be identified sooner and more accurate. By the REACH-Regulation importers and manufacturers are required to gather information on the properties of their chemical substances and to register the information in a central database operated by the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) based in Helsinki.

This handbook covers all the relevant issues from initial registration of chemical substances to the final enforcement of the obligations under the Regulation.

The content is structured as follows:
• Politics of REACH
• Scope of REACH
• Registration of Substances
• Status of non-Community Manufacturers and the Only Representatives
• Joint Submission
• Data Sharing in the Substance Information Exchange Forum (SIEF)
• Formation and Operation of Consortia
• Substances in Articles
• Information Requirements in the Supply Chain
• Downstream Users
• Classification and Labelling Inventory
• Evaluation
• Authorisation and Restriction
• Legal Actions and Appeals
• Enforcement
• REACH – A Business Strategy for Enterprises

With contributions by Laurel Berzanskis, Arno P. Biwer, Maurizio Butti, Olivier de Matos, Raminta Dereskevicitute, Dieter Drohmann, Vanessa Edwards, Ulrich Ellinghaus, Bettina Enderle, Ralf-Udo Förster, Anna Gergely, Fee Goossens, Paul Heylen, Lawrie McLaren, Eléonore Mullier, Volker J. Soballa, Gauthier van Thuyne