What is REACH?

REACH is the new European Ligislation on Chemicals. REACH is the acronym for Registration - Evaluation and Authorisation of CHemicals.

The new regulation came into force on 1 June 2007. It applies fully in each member state and does not need to be transposed into national law.

The Legislative Process and Important Milestones

What is new?

REACH applies to all chemical substances which are manufactured or imported in the European Union. It covers the whole supply chain of a product. Not only the manufacturer or importer has obligations under the new legislation, but also every member of the supply chain.

Manufacturers or Importers of formulations need to make sure that each individual substance in a formulation complies with REACH.

Information about the intended use needs to be passed up the supply chain so that the manufacturer or importer can register a substance for that use (notified use). A substance may ONLY be used for its registered (notified) use.

What will change?

Under REACH all substances have to follow the same registration, evaluation and authorisation procedure. From 1 June 2008, all chemical substances which are manufactured or imported into Europe at volumes of 1t or above need to be registered.

However, substances which are on EINECS (European Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances) have phase-in status and can be pre-registered between 1 June 2008 and 1 December 2008. Thus, manufacturers and importers can take advantage of extended registration deadlines.

Depending on the annual volume and the hazard properties of phase-in substances, manufacturers, importers and down-stream users need to register within 3.5 years (>1000 t/a), 6 years (>100 t/a) or 11 years (>1 t/a) respectively.

Substances of ìvery high concernî, namely CMR (Carcinogen, Mutagen, Toxic to Reproduction) and R50/53 (very toxic to aquatic organisms, may cause long-term adverse effects in aquatic environment) substances need to be registered within 3.5 years if their annual volume exceeds 1t or 100 t respectively.

If the evaluation by the Agency shows that there is a high risk associated with the use of a substance, the authorisation process is started, which may result in a restriction in use or a ban of the substance.

How will my company be affected by REACH?

If you are located in the European Union:

As a down-stream user, you need to make sure that the raw materials you are purchasing will be registered under REACH.

But registration alone is not sufficient. You also need to ensure that your specific use will be registered (notified use). If not, you may either ask your supplier to notify your use or you have to register yourself.

As a manufacturer or importer you have to register all substances you handle at quantities at or above 1t/a. For substances at or above 10t/a you have to perform a Chemical Safety Assessment and create a Chemical Safety Report.

Due to the high costs related to registration and testing, low margin products may disappear from market. Also, confidentiality and intellectual property issues may arise due to the high amount of information required to be disclosed during the registration process.

If you are located outsite the European Union:

Under REACH, only volumes of substances which have been manufactured in the EU or have been imported into the EU can be registered. It is not possible to proactively register a substance manufactured outside the EU just in case it might be imported further down the supply chain. This means, each importer of a substance ñ even if it comes from the same source has to register the volume he imports if it reaches 1t/a.

Although polymers are exempt from registration under REACH, for imported polymers, all monomers and other components which are present in the polymer at quantities of 2% and above, and where the total annual volume reaches 1t, need to be registered by the importer.

For non-European manufacturers who sell product to European customers this means that they need to be prepared to disclose the composition of their preparations and polymers to the customers or importers.

In order to avoid the disclosure of composition, non-European companies may appoint an ”Only Representative“ to fulfil the registration requirements for all imports of substances manufactured by this company. The ”Only Representative“ can be a European subsidiary or a third party located in the European Union.

These provisions do not apply for substances, polymers or polymer-components which are re-imported and have already been registered further up the supply chain.

RohMax Oil Additives will appoint an Only Representative to support our non-EU customers to comply with REACH.

How can my company prepare for REACH?

Most of the processes under REACH apply to manufacturers and down-stream users inside the EU as well as to companies located outside the EU if their products are imported into the EU.

Start preparing for REACH now.

Raw Materials:

• Make sure you have a complete list of all raw materials and related suppliers, so that you can contact them to check whether they will (pre-) register.
• CEFIC developed a standard questionnaire for the communication along the Supply Chain. RohMax recommends using this questionnaire (Download at: http://www.cefic.org/files/Publications/REACHIndustryPreparationLetterNo5.pdf).

Products:

• Compile a complete list of all substances you currently manufacture or import so that you can make sure they have phase-in status and get pre-registered.
• Obtain use information from your customers. RohMax redommends using the CEFIC standard questionnarie for the communication with your customers.
• Screen all available test data on your substances and plan for additional tox testing if necessary.
• Prepare for a membership in SIEF.

How does RohMax prepare for REACH?

RohMax Oil Additives supports the overall REACH goals of protecting human health and the environment. These goals are consistent with our corporate Environmental, Health, Safety and Quality Policy

We are well prepared for REACH.

RohMax VISCOPLEX® and VISCOBASE® products are based on polymers which are exempt from registration and evaluation under REACH. However, monomers need to be registered.

Our REACH Implementation Team already is well prepared for pre-registration. We are in the process of appointing an Only Representative who will help our customers to import our components into the European Union.

Monomers as well as Sulfolane products (manufactured by our sister company Evonik Degussa Stanlow Limited) will be pre-registered.

Our regulatory experts are thoroughly following all new developments on REACH and evaluate the impact on RohMax products. As part of the Evonik organisation we also benefit from their expertise and advocacy work.

Our goal is to work with our customers to make the transition to the new legislation for our customers as smooth as possible and to be able to supply you with our products as usual.

If you have general questions about REACH:

REACH legal text

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2007:136:SOM:EN:HTML

European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)

http://www.echa.europa.eu

Directorate General Enterprise (Commission)

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/reach/index_en.htm

European Chemicals Bureau

http://ecb.jrc.it/REACH/

CEFIC (European Chemicals Council)

http://www.cefic.be/

CEFIC REACH Centrum

http://www.reachcentrum.eu

ATC (Additives Technical Committee)

http://www.atc-europe.org

ACC (American Chemistry Council)

http://www.americanchemistry.com

VCI (Verband der Chemischen Industrie)

http://www.vci.de (German, only downloads in English)

CIA (Chemical Industry Association) UK

http://www.cia.org.uk/newsite/

UIC (Union des Industries Chimiques) France

http://www.uic.fr/fr/reach00.htm  

This information was compiled by RohMax Oil Additives as a service to our customers and suppliers and is based on our present knowledge and experience. However, it implies no liability or other legal responsibility on our part. For full and detailed information on REACH, please refer to the official text of the final version.

If you have questions concerning RohMax products:

Europe, Africa, Mideast:

Evonik RohMax Additives GmbH
Kirschenallee
64293 Darmstadt
Germany

Tel: +49 6151 18-09
sabine.iffland@evonik.com / gisela.carl@evonik.com

Americas:

Evonik RohMax USA, Inc.
723 Electronic Drive
Horsham, Pennsylvania 19044-2228

Tel: +1 215 706 5800
Toll-Free: +1 888 876 4629
catherine.croke@evonik.com

Asia Pacific:

Evonik RohMax Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd
3 International Business Park 07-18
Nordic European Centre Singapore 609927

Tel: +65 6899 0080
francis.wong@evonik.com

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