REACH Regulation
REACH, the new EU regulation concerning the Registration,
Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals, took effect
1 June, 2007. The aim of REACH is to protect human health and the
environment, maintain the competitiveness of the European chemical
industry and prevent fragmentation of the internal market. This
regulation is applicable in the same way across the 27 Member
States of the European Union.
It requires manufacturers and importers of substances in
quantities exceeding 1 tonne to submit a registration to the
European Chemical Agency.
REACH registration dossier for mercury
submitted
For mercury and the chlor-alkali industry the European
REACH constitutes a special case. As a sector, we are not
a producer or importer of mercury but only a user. This means
that legally our sector has no obligation to register mercury but
being a user we should ensure that "someone" registers
mercury.
This is why Euro Chlor actively was involved in the preparation of
a dossier prepared by a recycling company who have submitted a
registration dossier. Euro Chlor contributed information on
occupational and environmental health for the substance. The
dossier was submitted in November 2010, meeting the registration
deadline.
Contact
Dolf van Wijk
Science Director
tel. +32 2 676 7370
E-mail us with the Euro Chlor contact
form.
REACH Consortium for chlorinated solvents
The chlorinated solvents REACH consortium covers the
five substances tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, chloroform,
carbon tetrachloride and dichloromethane. There is a
lead registrant for each substance.
The dossiers for the five substances were submitted to ECHA in
August and September 2010. Currently the consortium is
provided access to the dossiers through Letters of Access.
The chlorinated solvents REACH consortium is managed by
ReachCentrum and for more information please access the
consortium website by clicking on the name of the substance
below.
Contact
Sébastien Gallet
tel. +32 2 676 7228
REACH consortia for chlor-alkali compounds and
derivatives
European producers launched consortia to register several
chlorinated substances and chlor-alkali derivatives under REACH.
The substances covered are: chlorinated solvents (discussed
above), caustic soda, chlorine, 1,2-dichloroethane, hydrogen
chloride, methyl chloride, potassium carbonate, potassium
hydroxide, sodium hypochlorite.
Registration dossiers for all of these substances have
been submitted to ECHA.
The consortia are managed by
ReachCentrum.
If you are interested to know more about these consortia,
please contact the secretariat at the following e-mail addresses or
click on the following substance names to be taken to the substance
websites:
The chlorinated paraffins (medium-chain chlorinated
paraffins (MCCP), long-chain chlorinated paraffins (LCCP) and
sulpho-chlorinated paraffins) are managed separately
by a contracting company at the following address: cpia.reach@gmail.com. The
substances have all been registered before December 2010. The most
recent consortium status updates for the MCCP consortium can be
found here, and for LCCP, here. The uses identified for LCCP are
contained in this document.
Earlier Euro Chlor activities
From September 2006 on, Euro Chlor members were
committed to ensure joined work for the preparation of registration
for chlorine and some of its derivatives. All
pre-registrations have been submitted to the European Chemical
Agency by 1 December 2008. As of 1 January 2009 the Chemical
Agency published the list of the pre-registered substances and
all manufacturers/importers who notified their intention to
register the same substance participate in the Substance
Information Exchange Forum (SIEF).
Whilst Companies needed to pre-register and notify accordingly
the EU Chemical Agency by 1 December 2008, it is important to bear
in mind that there are different deadlines for the
registration:
Manufacturers/importers supplying a substance above 1,000
tonnes/year, or a CMR cat. 1 or 2 substances above 1 tonne/year, or
an R50-53 substance (PBT/vPvB) above 100 tonnes/year: 1 December
2010
Manufacturers/importers supplying a substance above 100
tonnes/year: 1 June 2013
Manufacturers/importers supplying a substance above 1
tonne/year: 1 June 2018
Contact information
For more information on Euro Chlor activities on REACH, please
contact
Dolf Van Wijk (+32 2 6767370)
for chlorine, its main derivatives and chlorinated
paraffins
Wolfgang Marquardt for chlorinated solvents (+32 2 6767228)
E-mail: eurochlor@cefic.be or use
the Euro
Chlor contact form.
External links
ReachCentrum
European Commission Enterprise and
Industry
European Commission Environment
European
Chemicals Agency ECHA
Last update: 09/2011
