30 November REACH Deadline

The deadline for REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) registration is November 30, 2010 for the registration of high volume and potentially toxic substances. REACH, the world’s most demanding system designed for the safe use of chemicals, is a European Union Regulation.

Companies are doing their utmost to comply with REACH and to meet the first registration deadline, according to Cefic President Christian Jourquin. It’s in the industry’s interest that REACH is workable, practical and cost affordable and that the plethora of European substance related legislation is consistent with REACH.

Companies from Europe’s €450 billion chemical industry have joined up with national chemical industry bodies and regulatory authorities to comply with the regulatory framework, but especially small- and medium-sized enterprises, representing more than 90% of all chemical companies, have experienced problems related to the lack of expertise required to complete complex regulatory tasks.

In addition to the upcoming REACH deadline, the chemical industry this January must meet an additional deadline to comply with the classification, Labelling and Packaging of Substances regulation (CLP). This includes existing chemicals currently on the market and unnecessarily covers small quantities of millions of substances exchanged between research laboratories.

Industry leaders note that compliance with CLP will direct additional resources from companies’ other business operations, including research.