Europe’s Chemicals Regulation To Shake Up Industries

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Hazardous chemicals will have to be

substituted with suitable alternatives,

whenever available, under a gradual phase out system in the European Union that will be implemented in November.

The bloc’s program for the registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemical substances, with the acronym Reach, will be its largest chemicals regulation policy.

The regulation is expected to affect businesses in a major way, given that a large number of targeted substances have been manufactured and sold in the European market for years with insufficient information on the hazards they pose on human health and the environment.

About 9,000 substances are scheduled for registration when the program starts.

Regulations of this kind were first introduced in the 27-nation bloc in 2007. That time, it replaced E.U.’s former legislative framework on chemicals. The new provisions on registration and authorization entered into force in 2008.

Manufacturers and importers of so-called highest volume chemicals and hazardous substances will have to document their management of risk of chemicals in their registration files before they can continue production and marketing.

The policy will provide chemical users with safety information on the chemicals they buy. Should a chemical product be used in a manner not stipulated under its original Reach registration, the makers would have to be reported to the European Chemicals Agency in Helsinki, Finland.

The European Commission’s vice president, Antonio Tajani and commissioner Janez Potočnik recently visited the agency to ensure the smooth registration of chemicals and the management of substances of very high concern under Reach upon its implementation.

The commission said it will add more chemicals under the category “substances of very high concern,” which currently lists 29 substances.

Apart from environmentally threatening toxic substances, the program also classifies under “high-concern substances” those that are carcinogenic, mutagenic and bio-accumulative.

“Reach is a key example of balance-striking between the three pillars of sustainable development: competitiveness, social and environment,” the E.U. said in a statement.

“[It] ensures a high level of protection of human health and the environment, while also playing an important role to encourage innovation, foster competitiveness and better enable enterprises meet essential demands of consumers.