REACH Registration 2018

REACH 2018 banner

All chemical substances produced or imported from outside the EU between 1 and 100 tonnes per year, need to be registered by 31^st May 2018 with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). This is the last deadline for registering chemicals under the REACH Regulation. Companies need to register by the deadline to be legally permitted to import or place chemical substances on the EU market.

It is anticipated that this last deadline for manufacturers and importers into the EU, will involve a much wider group of participants with varied levels of knowledge of the process. For those registering for the first time in 2018, it is important to plan well in advance by becoming familiar with the process and the information requirements to register to ensure successful registration before the deadline.

In an effort to simplify the process of registration, ECHA have published a REACH 2018 web site which breaks the process down into seven steps. The first step 'Know your portfolio' was launched in June 2015, and the second step 'Finding your co-registrants', will be launched November 2015.

1. Know your portfolio

2. Find your co-registrants

3. Get organised with your co-registrants

4. Assess hazard and risk

5. Prepare your registration as a IUCLID dossier

6. Submit your registration dossier

7. Keep your registration up-to-date

For the first step, ECHA urged the importance of companies knowing their portfolio of chemical substances. Companies should review the volumes of substances imported from outside the EU, as well as the sales and production volumes of their manufactured chemical substances. In this way they can identify those substances requiring registration under REACH, and make plans on how to manage their registrations in time for the last deadline.

In step 2, ECHA stressed the obligation for registrants of the same substance to work together to share data and costs. Registrants of the same substance are part of a cooperation group called a substance information exchange forum (SIEF), once registrants are communicating within the SIEF it is important to establish that each is registering the same substance.

For the third step, registrants of the same substance must agree on how the work on the joint registration dossier is going to be achieved, including gathering and sharing all existing data, identifying data gaps and sharing the costs of new and existing data between members.

Companies involved in the supply of chemical substances are encouraged to determine their registration obligations through consultation with ECHA's 'Getting Started' web page, as well as the REACH 2018 website. Any queries should be directed to the HSA chemical helpdesk at chemicals@hsa.ie.