REACH Regulation in brief

REACH is the Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals. It entered into force on June 1, 2007.
The aim of REACH is to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals, while enhancing the competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry. It also promotes alternative methods for the hazard assessment of substances in order to reduce the number of tests on animals.
This Regulation established a series of obligations for all manufacturers and importers of chemical substances into the EU. All these companies need to register their substances jointly, in cooperation with other companies who are registering the same substance, according to the principle “One Substance, One Registration
REACH requires EU manufacturers and importers of chemical substances (>1tonne/year) to gather information on physiochemical, health and environmental properties of their substances and use it to determine how these can be used safely, and communicate the risk management measures to the users. Registrants have the legal duty to keep their registration dossiers up-to-date with the most recent information on hazards and risks.

Co-registrants also have the obligation to agree on the hazard classification and labelling of the jointly registered substances according to the Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (CLP Regulation).
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) receives and evaluates the registrations for compliance and may request additional information to registrants. Member States and ECHA’s scientific committees assess whether the risks of substances are controlled. If the risks are not properly managed, authorities can use different instruments to restrict the use of substances in the EU.

For additional information and training material on REACH Regulation, please refer to the ECHA website: https://echa.europa.eu/regulations/reach/understanding-reach