What is REACH?

REACH is a new European chemicals regulation, which entered into force on 1 June 2007. REACH will require chemical producers to provide data to the European Chemicals Agency on the substances they produce to demonstrate that they are being safely produced and used.

The acronym REACH takes its letters from Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation of CHemicals, the three main parts of the legislation. There is a fourth part, restriction, which does does not appear in the acronym.

Registration

Registration is the process by which chemicals producers provide a technical dossier of data to European authorities in order to continue placing their substances on the European market.

Click here for a timeline and more information on registration

Evaluation

Evaluation is a process through which the authorities can require registrants, and in very limited cases downstream users, to provide further information. There are two types of evaluation: dossier evaluation and substance evaluation.

Dossier evaluation: Proposals for testing are examined to avoid unnecessary animal tests and costs and to ensure that the registration dossier complies with the registration requirements.

Substance evaluation: This type of evaluation is conducted when a substance is thought to present a risk to human health or the environment.

Authorisation

Authorisation is a longer-term process involving those substances classified as hazardous by the European Union. The manufacturers and/or users of such substance may have to apply to the European authorities for authorisation to continue marketing and using them.

External links

For more information on REACH please refer to the European Chemicals Agency website

More REACH links can also be found here