EU chemicals manufacturers receive REACH reassurance
06/03/2018
REACH came into force in 2007 but it was ten years ago this year that chemicals manufacturers began to pre-register their products for REACH compliance. The final deadline for registering chemicals is May 31, 2018.
Over the last decade, the European Chemicals Agency, set up to implement reach, has gathered information on more than 17,000 substances in 65,000 registration dossiers of the main chemicals manufactured and used in the EU. So far, 181 chemicals that can have effects on human health and the environment have been identified and 43 are included in the ‘REACH authorisation list’, which means that companies need to get an authorisation to use them; these products are being phased out as suitable alternatives become available.
Internal market and industry commissioner, Elzbieta Bienkowska, has described REACH as the most advanced and comprehensive chemical legislation in the world. She points out that many other jurisdictions have followed the EU’s lead in regulating chemicals in this way. However, in comments she made in early March, Ms Bienkowska said the EU must also take steps to make sure having to comply with REACH does not hinder the competitiveness of chemicals manufacturers in the EU.
She said: “EU industry now makes chemicals safer for citizens and the environment. We need to build on this success and ensure that EU manufacturers do not face competitive disadvantages compared to non-EU manufacturers, notably by making sure that imported goods comply with EU rules on chemicals.”
While manufacturers of leather chemicals and other chemical products will welcome the commissioner’s remarks, they will point out that they also face competition in markets outside Europe, where rival companies are able to offer cheaper, non-compliant products without any REACH redress.
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