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Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals

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Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals ( REACH ) is a European Union regulation dating from 18 December 2006, amended on 16 December 2008 by Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008. REACH addresses the production and use of chemical substances , and their potential impacts on both human health and the environment. Its 849 pages took seven years to pass, and it has been described as the most complex legislation in the Union's history and the most important in 20 years. It is the strictest law to date regulating chemical substances and will affect industries throughout the world. REACH entered into force on 1 June 2007, with a phased implementation over the next decade. The regulation also established the European Chemicals Agency , which manages the technical, scientific and administrative aspects of REACH.

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62-1016: When REACH is fully in force, it will require all companies manufacturing or importing chemical substances into the European Union in quantities of one tonne or more per year to register these substances with a new European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in Telakkakatu (Helsinki)  [ fi ] , Finland . Since REACH applies to some substances that are contained in objects ( articles in REACH terminology), any company importing goods into Europe could be affected. The European Chemicals Agency has set three major deadlines for registration of chemicals. In general these are determined by tonnage manufactured or imported, with 1000 tonnes/a. being required to be registered by 1 December 2010, 100 tonnes/a. by 1 June 2013 and 1 tonne/a. by 1 June 2018. In addition, chemicals of higher concern or toxicity also have to meet

124-497: A report for the European Commission. Apart from the potential costs to industry and the complexity of the new law, REACH has also attracted concern because of animal testing . Animal tests on vertebrates are now required but allowed only once per each new substance and if suitable alternatives cannot be used. If a company pays for such tests, it must sell the rights of the results for a "reasonable" price, which

186-677: A ton typically refers to a short ton of 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) and to a lesser extent to a long ton of 2,240 lb (1,016 kg), with the term tonne rarely used in speech or writing. Both terms are acceptable in Canadian English . Ton and tonne are both derived from a Germanic word in general use in the North Sea area since the Middle Ages (cf. Old English and Old Frisian tunne , Old High German and Medieval Latin tunna , German and French tonne ) to designate

248-519: A large cask, or tun . A full tun, standing about a metre high, could easily weigh a tonne. See also the common German word de:Mülltonne (literal translation: garbage drum ). The spelling tonne pre-dates the introduction of the SI in 1960; it has been used with this meaning in France since 1842, when there were no metric prefixes for multiples of 10 and above, and is now used as the standard spelling for

310-707: A new scheme to manage the manufacture, importation and supply of chemicals in Europe on in October 2003. This proposal eventually became law once the European Parliament officially approved its final text of REACH. It came into force on 1 June 2007. One of the major elements of the REACH regulation is the requirement to communicate information on chemicals up and down the supply chain . This ensures that manufacturers, importers, and also their customers are aware of information relating to health and safety of

372-527: A ruling that criticised the European Chemicals Agency for failing to identify a safer alternative. Manufactures and importers should develop risk reduction measures for all known uses of the chemical including downstream uses. Downstream users such as plastic pipe producers should provide detail of their uses to their suppliers. In cases where downstream users decide not to disclose this information, they need to have their own CSR. REACH

434-494: A series of new problems as a SIEF is the cooperation between sometimes a thousand legal entities that did not know each other at all before but suddenly must: in order to complete a several thousand end points dossier in a limited time. The European Commission supports businesses affected by REACH by handing out – free of charge – a software application ( IUCLID ) that simplifies capturing, managing, and submitting data on chemical properties and effects. Such submission

496-635: A set of rules and trends. In systems theory , these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society , but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For example: Regulation in the social, political, psychological, and economic domains can take many forms: legal restrictions promulgated by a government authority, contractual obligations (for example, contracts between insurers and their insureds ), self-regulation in psychology, social regulation (e.g. norms ), co-regulation, third-party regulation, certification, accreditation or market regulation. State -mandated regulation

558-537: A significant issue, with the estimated cost of compliance being around €5 billion over 11 years, and the assumed health benefits of saved billions of euro in healthcare costs. However, there have been different studies on the estimated cost which vary considerably in the outcome. It came into force on 20 January 2009, and will be fully implemented by 2015. A separate regulation – the CLP Regulation (for "Classification, Labelling, Packaging") – implements

620-450: A similar picture to previous years," it said. Industry group Cefic acknowledged the problem. Substance evaluation is performed by the relevant authorities when there is a reason to suspect that a substance presents a risk to human health or the environment (e.g. because of its structural similarity to another substance). Therefore, all registration dossiers submitted for a substance are examined together and any other available information

682-813: A total of 233 SVHCs (see ECHA list at https://echa.europa.eu/candidate-list-table ), some of which are already active on the Authorization List. To sell or use these substances, manufacturers, importers, and retailers in the European Union (EU) must apply for authorization from the ECHA . The applicant is to submit a chemical safety report on the risks entailed by the substance, as well as an analysis of possible alternative substances or technologies including present and future research and development processed. Tonne The tonne ( / t ʌ n / or / t ɒ n / ; symbol:  t )

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744-420: A very high degree regulated by the labour market parties themselves (self-regulation) in contrast to state regulation of minimum wages etc. Regulation can be assessed for different countries through various quantitative measures. The Global Indicators of Regulatory Governance by World Bank 's Global Indicators Group scores 186 countries on transparency around proposed regulations, consultation on their content,

806-502: A year must be registered in the first 6 years; 1–100 tonnes a year must be registered in the first 11 years. In addition, industry should prepare risk assessments and provide controls measures for using the substance safely to downstream users. Evaluation provides a means for the authorities to require registrants, and in very limited cases downstream users, to provide further information. There are two types of evaluation: dossier evaluation and substance evaluation: Dossier evaluation

868-434: Is a mandatory part of the registration process . Under certain circumstances the performance of a chemical safety assessment (CSA) is mandatory and a chemical safety report (CSR) assuring the safe use of the substance has to be submitted with the dossier. Dossier submission is done using the web-based software REACH-IT . The aim of REACH is to improve the protection of human health and the environment by identification of

930-481: Is a unit of mass equal to 1,000  kilograms . It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI . It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United States customary units ) and the long ton ( British imperial units ). It is equivalent to approximately 2,204.6 pounds , 1.102 short tons, and 0.984 long tons. The official SI unit

992-445: Is an established spelling alternative to metric ton . In the United States and United Kingdom, tonne is usually pronounced the same as ton ( / t ʌ n / ), but the final "e" can also be pronounced, i.e. " tunnie " ( / ˈ t ʌ n i / ). In Australia, the common and recommended pronunciation is / t ɒ n / . In the United States, metric ton is the name for this unit used and recommended by NIST; an unqualified mention of

1054-493: Is analysed in empirical legal studies, law and economics, political science, environmental science, health economics , and regulatory economics . Power to regulate should include the power to enforce regulatory decisions. Monitoring is an important tool used by national regulatory authorities in carrying out the regulated activities. In some countries (in particular the Scandinavian countries) industrial relations are to

1116-453: Is conducted by authorities to examine proposals for testing to ensure that unnecessary animal tests and costs are avoided, and to check the compliance of registration dossier with the registration requirements. Chemical companies failed to provide "important safety information" in nearly three quarters (74% or 211 of 286) of cases checked by authorities, according to the European Chemicals Agency 's 2018 annual progress report . “The numbers show

1178-488: Is continuously growing and requires organizations to constantly monitor any announcements and additions to the REACH scope. This can be done on the European Chemicals Agency 's website. A requirement is to collect, collate and submit data to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) on the hazardous properties of all substances (except Polymers and non-isolated intermediates) manufactured or imported into

1240-510: Is deemed undesirable and REACH will force the use of certain substances to be phased out. Using potentially toxic substances in products other than those ingested by humans (such as electronic devices ) may seem to be safe, but there are several ways in which chemicals can enter the human body and the environment. Substances can leave particles during consumer use, for example into the air where they can be inhaled or ingested. Even where they might not do direct harm to humans, they can contaminate

1302-615: Is government intervention in the private market in an attempt to implement policy and produce outcomes which might not otherwise occur, ranging from consumer protection to faster growth or technological advancement. The regulations may prescribe or proscribe conduct ("command-and-control" regulation), calibrate incentives ("incentive" regulation), or change preferences ("preferences shaping" regulation). Common examples of regulation include limits on environmental pollution , laws against child labor or other employment regulations, minimum wages laws, regulations requiring truthful labelling of

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1364-438: Is little need to distinguish between metric and other tons, and the unit is spelled either as ton or tonne with the relevant prefix attached. A metric ton unit (mtu) can mean 10 kg (22 lb) within metal trading, particularly within the United States. It traditionally referred to a metric ton of ore containing 1% (i.e. 10 kg) of metal. The following excerpt from a mining geology textbook describes its usage in

1426-407: Is not defined. There are additional concerns that access to the necessary information may prove very costly for potential registrants needing to purchase it. On 8 June 2006, the REACH proposal was criticized by non-EU countries, including the United States, India and Brazil , which stated that the bill would hamper global trade. The cosmetics company Lush were critical of the legislation when it

1488-463: Is not possible to register a substance if your "only representative" consultancy company is not based in the EU, unless it is subcontracted to an EU-based registrant. The SIEFs will bring new challenges. An article in the business news service Chemical Watch described how some "pre-registrants" may simply be consultants hoping for work ("gold diggers") while others may be aiming to charge exorbitant rates for

1550-424: Is significant, and use of other letter combinations can lead to ambiguity. For example, T, MT, mT, are the SI symbols for the tesla , megatesla, and millitesla, respectively, while Mt and mt are SI-compatible symbols for the megatonne (one teragram) and millitonne (one kilogram). If describing TNT equivalent units of energy, one megatonne of TNT is equivalent to approximately 4.184 petajoules . In English, tonne

1612-486: Is taken into account. Substance evaluation is carried out under a programme known as the Community Rolling Action Plan ( CoRAP ). An independent review of progress by national officials published in late 2018 found that 352 substances have so far been prioritised for substance evaluation with 94 completed. For almost half the 94, officials concluded that existing commercial use of the substance

1674-400: Is the joule . One tonne of TNT is approximately equivalent to 4.2 gigajoules. In the petroleum industry the tonne of oil equivalent (toe) is a unit of energy : the amount of energy released by burning one tonne of crude oil , approximately 42 GJ. There are several slightly different definitions. This is ten times as much as a tonne of TNT because atmospheric oxygen is used. Like

1736-509: Is the megagram ( Mg ), a less common way to express the same amount. The BIPM symbol for the tonne is t, adopted at the same time as the unit in 1879. Its use is also official for the metric ton in the United States, having been adopted by the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It is a symbol, not an abbreviation, and should not be followed by a period . Use of lower case

1798-481: Is the mass of one cubic metre of pure water at 4 °C (39 °F). As a non-SI unit, the use of SI metric prefixes with the tonne does not fall within the SI standard. For multiples of the tonne, it is more usual to speak of thousands or millions of tonnes. Kilotonne, megatonne, and gigatonne are more usually used for the energy of nuclear explosions and other events in equivalent mass of TNT , often loosely as approximate figures. When used in this context, there

1860-609: Is the product of a wide-ranging overhaul of EU chemical policy. It passed the first reading in the European Parliament on 17 November 2005, and the Council of Ministers reached a political agreement for a common position on 13 December 2005. The European Parliament approved REACH on 13 December 2006 and the Council of Ministers formally adopted it on 18 December 2006. Weighing up expenditure versus profit has always been

1922-409: Is unsafe for human health and/or the environment. Risk management has been initiated for twelve substances since REACH came into force. For 74% of substances (34 out of 46), concerns were demonstrated, but no actual regulatory follow-up has yet been initiated. In addition, national officials concluded that 64% of the substances under evaluation (126 out of 196) lacked the information needed to demonstrate

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1984-466: Is used as a proxy for energy, usually of explosions (TNT is a common high explosive ). Prefixes are used: kiloton(ne), megaton(ne), gigaton(ne), especially for expressing nuclear weapon yield , based on a specific combustion energy of TNT of about 4.2  MJ / kg (or one thermochemical calorie per milligram ). Hence, 1 t TNT = approx. 4.2  GJ , 1 kt TNT = approx. 4.2  TJ , 1 Mt TNT = approx. 4.2  PJ . The SI unit of energy

2046-435: The gram and the kilogram, the tonne gave rise to a (now obsolete) force unit of the same name, the tonne-force, equivalent to about 9.8 kilonewtons . The unit is also often called simply "tonne" or "metric ton" without identifying it as a unit of force. In contrast to the tonne as a mass unit, the tonne-force is not accepted for use with SI. Regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to

2108-490: The 2010 deadline. About 143,000 chemical substances marketed in the European Union were pre-registered by the 1 December 2008 deadline. Although pre-registering was not mandatory, it allows potential registrants much more time before they have to fully register. Supply of substances to the European market which have not been pre-registered or registered is illegal (known in REACH as "no data, no market"). REACH also addresses

2170-593: The Annex 1 of the Dangerous Substances Directive (now Annex VI of the CLP Regulation ). Continued use of many toxic chemicals is sometimes justified because "at very low levels they are not a concern to health". However, many of these substances may bioaccumulate in the human body, thus reaching dangerous concentrations. They may also chemically react with one another, producing new substances with new risks. A number of countries outside of

2232-629: The EU IPA programme. Switzerland has moved towards implementation of REACH through partial revision of the Swiss Chemical Ordinance on February 1, 2009. The new Chemicals Management Regulation in Turkey is paving the way for the planned adoption of REACH in 2013. China has moved towards a more efficient and coherent system for the control of chemicals in compliance with GHS. In the UK,

2294-407: The EU in quantities above 1 tonne per year. Certain substances of high concern, such as carcinogenic, mutagenic and reproductive toxic substances (CMRs) will have to be authorised. Chemicals will be registered in three phases according to the tonnage of the substance evaluation: More than 1000 tonnes a year, or substances of highest concern, must be registered in the first 3 years; 100–1000 tonnes

2356-498: The European Chemicals Agency, and applicants for authorisation will have to include plans to replace the use of the SVHC with a safer alternative (or, if no safer alternative exists, the applicant must work to find one) – known as substitution . As of 23 July 2021, there are 219 SVHCs on the candidate list for authorization. REACH applies to all chemicals imported or produced in the EU. The European Chemicals Agency will manage

2418-640: The European Community where this is shown to be necessary. Member States or the Commission may prepare such proposals. By March 2019, authorisation had been granted 185 times , with no eligible request ever having been rejected. NGOs have complained that authorisations have been granted despite safer alternatives existing and that this was hindering substitution . In March 2019, the European Court of Justice revoked an authorisation in

2480-534: The European Union have started to implement REACH regulations or are in the process of adopting such a regulatory framework to approach a more globalized system of chemicals registration under the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). Balkan countries such as Croatia and Serbia are in the process of adopting the EU REACH system under the auspices of

2542-754: The United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) and will steadily replace the previous Dangerous Substances Directive and Dangerous Preparations Directive . The REACH regulation was amended in April 2018 to include specific information requirements for nanomaterials . In the European Green Deal of 2020, a commitment was made to update the REACH regulation to ban between 7,000 and 12,000 toxic substances in all consumer products, except where truly essential. The goal

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2604-470: The air or water, and can enter the food chain through plants, fish or other animals. According to the European Commission, little safety information exists for 99 percent of the tens of thousands of chemicals placed on the market before 1981. There were 100,106 chemicals in use in the EU in 1981, when the last survey was performed. Of these only 3,000 have been tested and over 800 are known to be carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction. These are listed in

2666-606: The ancient world, and gold may have operated to some degree as an international currency. In China, a national currency system existed and paper currency was invented. Sophisticated law existed in Ancient Rome . In the European Early Middle Ages , law and standardization declined with the Roman Empire, but regulation existed in the form of norms, customs, and privileges; this regulation was aided by

2728-680: The authority of statutes. Legislators created these agencies to require experts in the industry to focus their attention on the issue. At the federal level, one of the earliest institutions was the Interstate Commerce Commission which had its roots in earlier state-based regulatory commissions and agencies. Later agencies include the Federal Trade Commission , Securities and Exchange Commission , Civil Aeronautics Board , and various other institutions. These institutions vary from industry to industry and at

2790-610: The building. An opinion in Nature in 2009 by Thomas Hartung and Constanza Rovida estimated that 54 million vertebrate animals would be used under REACH and that the costs would amount to €9.5 billion, set against the annual European industry annual turnover of €507 billion. Hartung is the former head of European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM). In a news release, ECHA criticised assumptions made by Hartung and Rovida; ECHA's alternative assumptions reduced sixfold

2852-444: The continued use of chemical substances of very high concern (SVHC) because of their potential negative impacts on human health or the environment. From 1 June 2011, the European Chemicals Agency must be notified of the presence of SVHCs in articles if the total quantity used is more than one tonne per year and the SVHC is present at more than 0.1% of the mass of the object. Some uses of SVHCs may be subject to prior authorisation from

2914-663: The data they have to offer ("jackals"). Source: The European Chemical Agency (ECHA) has published the REACH Authorisation List, in an effort to tighten the use of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs). The list is an official recommendation from the ECHA to the European Commission . The list is also regularly updated and expanded. Currently the Candidate List for Authorisation comprises

2976-440: The federal and state level. Individual agencies do not necessarily have clear life-cycles or patterns of behavior, and they are influenced heavily by their leadership and staff as well as the organic law creating the agency. In the 1930s, lawmakers believed that unregulated business often led to injustice and inefficiency; in the 1960s and 1970s, concern shifted to regulatory capture , which led to extremely detailed laws creating

3038-439: The government announced a "UK REACH" that the UK's Chemical Industry Association described as a "hugely expensive duplication" of the EU's safety data. The new regulations were to be enforced from October 2021 but deferred to October 2023, and then to October 2025. Following industry representations, the responsible Minister announced "that officials would now explore 'a new model' for UK REACH registrations that would look to 'reduce

3100-581: The ingredients in food and drugs, and food and drug safety regulations establishing minimum standards of testing and quality for what can be sold, and zoning and development approvals regulation. Much less common are controls on market entry, or price regulation. One critical question in regulation is whether the regulator or government has sufficient information to make ex-ante regulation more efficient than ex-post liability for harm and whether industry self-regulation might be preferable. The economics of imposing or removing regulations relating to markets

3162-595: The intrinsic properties of chemical substances. At the same time, innovative capability and competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry should be enhanced. The European Commission's (EC) White Paper of 2001 on a 'future chemical strategy' proposed a system that requires chemicals manufactured in quantities of greater than 1 tonne to be 'registered', those manufactured in quantities greater than 100 tonnes to be 'evaluated', and certain substances of high concern (for example carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic to reproduction – CMRs) to be 'authorised'. The EC adopted its proposal for

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3224-522: The metric mass measurement in most English -speaking countries. In the United States, the unit was originally referred to using the French words millier or tonneau , but these terms are now obsolete. The British imperial and United States customary units are comparable to the tonne and the spelling of ton in English is the same, though they differ in mass. One tonne is equivalent to: A tonne

3286-636: The need for replicating EU Reach data packages'". In March 2021, a group of more than 20 leading UK organisations, including the CHEM Trust and Breast Cancer UK, "rejected industry proposals to streamline UK Reach as a 'major weakening' of the envisaged post-Brexit regime". Over a decade after REACH came into force, progress has been slow. Of the 100,000 chemicals used in Europe today, “only a small fraction has been thoroughly evaluated by authorities regarding their health and environmental properties and impacts, and even fewer are actually regulated,” according to

3348-452: The number of animals. Only representatives are EU-based entities that must comply with REACH (Article 8) and should operate standard, transparent working practices. The Only Representative assumes responsibility and liability for fulfilling obligations of importers in accordance with REACH for substances being brought into the EU by a non-EU manufacturer. Non-EU consultancies offer "only representative" services, though according to REACH it

3410-482: The particular case of tungsten: Tungsten concentrates are usually traded in metric tonne units (originally designating one tonne of ore containing 1% of WO 3 , today used to measure WO 3 quantities in 10 kg units. One metric tonne unit (mtu) of tungsten (VI) contains 7.93 kilograms of tungsten. In the case of uranium , MTU is sometimes used in the sense of metric ton of uranium (1,000 kg [2,200 lb]). The tonne of trinitrotoluene (TNT)

3472-434: The products supplied. For many retailers the obligation to provide information about substances in their products within 45 days of receipt of a request from a consumer is particularly challenging. Having detailed information on the substances present in their products will allow retailers to work with the manufacturing base to substitute or remove potentially harmful substances from products. The list of harmful substances

3534-517: The safety of the chemicals marketed in Europe due to inadequate industry data. REACH allows restricted substances of very high concern to continue being used, subject to authorisation. This authorisation requirement attempts to ensure that risks from the use of such substances are either adequately controlled or justified by socio-economic grounds, having taken into account the available information on alternative substances or processes. The Regulation enables restrictions of use to be introduced across

3596-475: The technical, scientific and administrative aspects of the REACH system. To somewhat simplify the registration of the 143,000 substances and to limit vertebrate animal testing as far as possible, substance information exchange forums (SIEFs) are formed amongst legal entities (such as manufacturers, importers, and data holders) who are dealing with the same substance. This allows them to join forces and finances to create 1 registration dossier. However, this creates

3658-549: The unified Christian identity and a sense of honor regarding contracts . Modern industrial regulation can be traced to the Railway Regulation Act 1844 in the United Kingdom, and succeeding Acts. Beginning in the late 19th and 20th centuries, much of regulation in the United States was administered and enforced by regulatory agencies which produced their own administrative law and procedures under

3720-529: The use of regulatory impact assessments and the access to enacted laws on a scale from 0 to 5. The V-Dem Democracy indices include the regulatory quality indicator. The QuantGov project at the Mercatus Center tracks the count of regulations by topic for United States, Canada, and Australia. Regulation of businesses existed in the ancient early Egyptian, Indian, Greek, and Roman civilizations. Standardized weights and measures existed to an extent in

3782-482: Was among the priorities of the European Commission , but is in danger of being radically revised due to lobbying by the EU chemical industry and the positions taken by the European People's Party . The legislation was proposed under dual reasoning: protection of human health and protection of the environment . Using potentially toxic substances (such as phthalates or brominated flame retardants )

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3844-488: Was first proposed in 2006, as they believed it would increase animal testing . The cosmetics company wrote to its European customers and also ran an in-store marketing campaign, asking for postcards objecting to the legislation be sent to MEPs , a move which resulted in 80,000 Lush customers sending postcards. In December 2006, Lush protested outside the European Parliament in Strasbourg , by dumping horse manure outside

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