REACH (Registration Authorization and Evaluation of Chemicals)

What's New

During the first reading of the proposed REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals) regulation in November 2005, the NPRA amendment – which would ensure that REACH recognize data now being developed and made public under the High Production Volume (HPV) chemical substances program is presumptively sufficient to meet some of REACH’s registration and preliminary testing requirements -- was adopted by the European Parliament by a vote of 367-229, an absolute majority of the body. The amendment was not included in the European Union (EU) Commission-Council of Ministers “common position” (items that the two institutions agree will be part of the regulation) due to some technical issues that NPRA believes can be resolved through minor edits to the amendment language.

The EU Commission, however, has signaled that the NPRA amendment could be introduced as part of the second reading scheduled for November 2006. The second reading provides the opportunity for the Parliament to include amendments that were not part of the common position to be added to the final version of the regulation. The Parliament’s Environment Committee on October 10 voted not to support the amendment, along with a number of other industry-sponsored amendments. The Parliamentarians who sponsored the amendment have signaled that they will continue to sponsor the amendment when the plenary will vote on amendments as part of the second reading of the proposal in November.

NPRA Position

NPRA considers the proposed REACH regulation to be burdensome, costly and impractical. The regulation seeks considerably more information than is required to ensure that chemicals are produced and used as safely as possible, and imposes a high cost on industry and governments to implement the system. In addition, the program will have significant adverse competitive impacts on chemical manufacturers, importers, and downstream users. For example, the proposed regulation requires foreign producers to provide substantial information to their EU importers as a condition for access to the EU market. While NPRA continues to believe that REACH is burdensome and costly, it has engaged in advocacy efforts to ensure that HPV program data is presumptively sufficient to meet some of REACH’s registration and preliminary testing requirements.

Background

In October 2003, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a new EU regulatory framework for chemicals. Under the new system, entitled REACH, companies that manufacture or import more than one ton of a chemical substance a year would be required to register it in a central database. REACH would also give industry greater responsibility to manage the risks from chemicals and provide safety information on these substances. Producers and importers of chemicals in amounts greater than 10 metric tons must include a Chemical Safety Report (essentially a risk assessment). The registration and Chemical Safety Report must address all “identified” uses, including those of downstream users.