As REACH deadline approaches, European Chemicals Agency holds a stakeholders day

The first registration deadline for REACH, the European chemicals law, is fast approaching.  Manufacturers and importers of chemicals in Europe in excess of 1000 tonnes per year are required to submit extensive health and safety data dossiers in order to get - or stay - on the market.  To facilitate this effort the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in Helsinki, Finland, held the 5th in its series of stakeholder days on October 4th.

The 5th Stakeholder's Day focused on three main topics:

1) Registration and Classification and Labeling Notification: Besides the registration obligations, companies also have the obligation to notify their substances for classification and labeling. They can do this either as part of their registration package, or if their registration isn't due until one of the next deadlines (in 2013 and 2018) they must submit a separate notification effective December 1, 2010.

2) Registration, Evaluation and Notification - Best Practice: Keeping in mind that REACH is an acronym, besides being mindful of Registration obligations, chemical companies and downstream users must also pay attention to the potential for Evaluation of their chemicals by member states, as well as the already mentioned Notification obligations.

3) Authorization: How to Select Candidate Substances: The "A" in REACH is Authorization and ECHA has been busy coming out with "candidate lists" of chemicals they feel are "substances of very high concern" and should be put into Annex XIV.  The ECHA stakeholder's gave their experiences to date and got feedback from the agency.

More information on the meeting, video recordings, and copies of the presentations can be found on the stakeholder's day web site at ECHA.