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REACH Unifies Chemicals Legislation
The European Union’s chemicals legislation was reformed at the beginning of June 2007 when the new REACH Regulation came into force. REACH is intended to improve the protection of human health and the environment and develop chemicals legislation in the European Union.
REACH is short for Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals. The primary objective of the new Regulation is to gather research data on chemical substances and ascertain how they can be used safely, both in terms of human health and the environment. Now that the Regulation has come into force, any substance that is imported to or produced in the European Union in quantities of one ton or more annually must be registered. About 30,000 such chemicals are in use in Europe. Approximately 300 new substances are introduced to the EU market each year.
REACH has not been created from scratch, but builds on existing legislation. “Since 1981, the EU has required that all new chemicals brought to market undergo basic testing. However, most of the substances in use were introduced before 1981,” says Mia Nores-Korkeamäki, Adviser, Environment at the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries.
“If sufficient research data does not as yet exist on a certain chemical, its manufacturer or importer might have to perform or commission studies,” says Ms. Nores-Korkeamäki.
Registration will be carried out over the course of 11 years in three stages. Unregistered substances can no longer be produced or imported. The pre-registration of chemicals will begin in June 2008 and lasts half a year. “It’s vital for chemical manufacturers and importers to be involved in pre-registration, as that will enable them to comply with REACH transitional periods,” she says.
Pre-registrants that manufacture a certain chemical will be assigned to a SIEF (Substance Information Exchange Forum) to research and register the substance in question. SIEFs are intended to minimize overlapping work for all parties.
Greater Corporate Responsibility
REACH has given greater responsibility to companies to manage the risks of chemicals.
“REACH defines the obligations of companies in accordance with their role. An economic actor may be a manufacturer, EU importer, downstream user or distributor. An actor may have numerous roles,” says Ms. Nores-Korkeamäki.
Companies that manufacture and import chemicals are obligated to evaluate the risks caused by the use of substances and provide safety information to the entire supply chain – for instance, so that companies using chemicals in their own production can operate safely and responsibly. Sufficient information on health and environmental impacts is not yet available on most of the 30,000 substances that are currently in use.
REACH applies to almost all chemicals used in industry. R&D is exempted from registration, with certain conditions. In the manufacture of electrical and electronic products, chemicals are mainly used in the soldering and cleaning of components. In addition, the functionality of certain components is based on the chemicals they release.
A Chemicals Review Facilitates the Process
Under REACH, Elcoteq’s customers are most likely categorized as downstream users. They are responsible for ensuring the continued availability of the chemicals they need and seeing to it that they are used correctly at their company. A downstream user may have to register the intended use of a chemical on its own if the manufacturer or importer has not registered said intended use.
“In the communications technology industry, a company might also have to serve as an importer due to contractual reasons. Then the company should try to think of alternative sources for its chemicals or replace them with other chemicals in its processes,” says Mia Nores-Korkeamäki.
Elcoteq has made preparations for the chemicals legislation reform for many years. A Chemicals Review has been carried out at the European plants to determine the chemical substances, their intended uses and amounts. Cooperation between the Product Development Services, New Product Introduction and Sourcing organizations has been firmed up while the Review was in progress.
The most important consideration for companies is ensuring the future availability of the chemicals they need. REACH testing requirements are expensive, which might make the production or use of certain chemicals unprofitable, especially in the case of low-volume specialty chemicals.
“It’s probable that the Regulation will lead to some products being withdrawn from the market and replaced. For this reason, it’s important for a company to contact its chemical suppliers to check whether they intend to register the substances they supply to the company. I also firmly recommend that downstream users avail themselves of their right to inform the chemical supplier of the intended use of the substance,” says Ms. Nores-Korkeamäki.
Standardized practices and researched substances will ensure the safe use of chemicals throughout the supply chain. This will benefit the environment and people all over the world.
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Topics:
Brand, Communication Technology, Contract manufacturing, Corporate Responsibility, CR, Design, ems, environmental, European Union, REACH, SIEF
