Did you know that REACH is already in effect?
This is what you need to know and do.

With the REACH regulation (Registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals), Europe adopted the most advanced and complicated legislation in the world for the control and registration of about 30 million chemicals that currently circulate within member countries.

What does the REACH regulation say?

Substantially, all chemicals produced or imported into Europe in quantities greater than one ton per year must be registered at the new European Chemical Agency in Helsinki.
By 2010, the most hazardous substances must be registered, as well as those produced-imported in quantities greater than 1,000 tons per year.
By 2013, those between 100 and 1000 tons.
By 2018, those produced-imported in smaller quantities: from 1 to 100 tons per year.
In any case, there is a pre-registration phase for all chemicals, which must be performed within 18 months of the effective date of the REACH regulation, or specifically from 1 June 2008 to 1 December 2008.

Where will hazardous chemicals go?

With the REACH regulation, Europe intends to significantly reduce the production and use of particularly hazardous chemicals (CMR classes 1 and 2, PBT, vPvB, DE, etc.) by introducing the principle of replacement.
The REACH regulation calls for three strategies for the approximately 1,500 chemicals considered most hazardous:

1. Replacement when possible and economically feasible
2. Authorization for a limited period, upon guarantee of adequate control, and relative obligatory replacement plan when alternatives are available
3. Authorized use if there are no alternative chemicals, upon presentation of a valid research plan.

When will REACH come into effect?

REACH is already in effect, specifically on 1 June 2007. As it is a Regulation, it does not require acknowledgment by national legislation.

What will change in the Italian and European Chemical Industry?

From the date REACH comes into effect in the European standards, the chemical industry scenario will undergo a revolutionary change. Most likely, on one hand, we will see part of a gradual increase in the cost of chemicals due to the costs of registration, and on the other, we will see chemicals disappear - perhaps of strategic importance - that are no longer produced or imported because they are no longer suitable. This will have as a logical consequence the need to change production systems or processes, or even the essential research for replacements of the chemicals.

The change due to REACH is much more radical for a small or mid-sized business (who is in the middle of the supply chain and often has limited technological, personnel, and financial resources) rather than for large companies, who in all probability are already in line with the requirements of the regulation.

Keeping in mind that the chemical industry supplies intermediate goods to all sectors of the economy, REACH will provoke repercussions on management and economic levels, not only in chemical companies, but also in all industrial markets that use chemical substances.

What will change at our company?

All companies that produce and/or import chemicals (in quantities >= one tone per year) must register the chemicals in question, establishing a direct contact with the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) and becoming active in the production of the technical documentation (technical file and chemical safety report – CSR) necessary for this.

Registered companies must procure all necessary test data and information for registration. For a few of these, in particular tests on vertebrates, they will be required to share the information and costs with all of the other European producers and/or importers through special consortiums.

The users of chemicals (downstream users), on the other hand, will only be able to use the chemicals if the use is IDENTIFIED and known by the producer and/or importer. All of the information regarding use (including exposure scenarios) will be transmitted along the supply chain by the Safety Data sheet or, for non-hazardous chemicals, another similar document.

How can Normachem prepare our company for Reach?

First of all, Normachem helps companies understand if and how they will be "effected" by the REACH regulation and, above all, the timing that the company has for affecting all of the requirements set out in the new norm based on the number, amount, and hazard posed by the chemicals involved.

After this first phase it will be possible to perform specific actions in line with the following action plan:

• Pre-registration phase assistance
• Information and assistance in the preparation of registration dossiers and revision of these prior to subjecting them to the European Chemical Agency so that they can be written in the most correct and complete manner, as required by the regulation
• Assistance in the operational method for forming and operating the Consortia
• Information on analysis laboratories and test centers for obtaining the data necessary to compile the technical files
• Support and validation of innovation and research (fundamental elements above all for the survival of PMI), for example companies that must replace hazardous chemicals with others that are less hazardous, or companies that will no longer find chemicals on the European market
• Assistance for companies that do not need to register chemical substances, but that use them (verifying if their use falls within the scenario defined by their supplier/importer)

But Normachem does not limit its activities to technical assistance in its commitment to a company. Normachem has the power, professionalism, as well as the ambition, to help companies in research and definition of the strategies to "minimize" the effects of REACH, at the same time guaranteeing the performance and qualitative standards of the company.