REACH

Read our REACH statement here

REACH is a new chemicals regulation from the EU that was adopted in December 2006 and entered into force 1 June 2007.

REACH stands for:

R: Registration

E: Evaluation

A: Authorisation

of CH: Chemicals

The objective of REACH is to ensure greater protection of both people and the environment, while increasing companies’ competitive ability and development opportunities, as well as to create common rules for all EU countries.

Through REACH, companies will become more knowledgeable about chemical substances’ safety and environmental properties. This, in turn, will enable them to handle chemical substances and products more responsibly. REACH will require greater communication among suppliers and consumers.

As a manufacturer, importer and trader of chemical products, ITW Chemical Products Scandinavia, our suppliers and customers are affected by REACH. For ITW, this means that ITW must ensure that suppliers of raw materials and finished products register the substances contained in ITW’s products. The substances must be registered for the end product in which they will be used. Once the registration period has ended, it will only be possible to use substances, and thereby the products in which they are used, for the purposes for which they are registered.

ITW’s customers are also obligated to inform ITW about their use of ITW products if they are used for a purpose other than that stated on labels and technical data sheets. Customers need to do this if they want to ensure that they can still use the product for purposes other than the one specified on the product’s data sheet.  

As the substances are registered, new safety and environmental information about the substances will be provided, which ITW must include on safety data sheets and an appendix (a so-called exposure scenario) to it. The safety data sheets will have a new format. Work on updating the forms has begun and is expected to be completed in late 2008.

Important REACH dates:

1 June  2007 REACH entered into force

1 June  2007 New safety data sheets on substances and products

1 June  2008 The European Chemicals Agency will become operative, and preregistration of known substances will begin.

1 Jan.  2009 The European Chemicals Agency is to publish a list of all preregistered substances.

1 Dec. 2010 The first existing substances must be registered.

1 June  2018 The last existing substances must be registered.

For further information about ITW Chemical Products Scandinavia and REACH, please contact hn@itw-scan.com or mb@itw-scan.com.

Link List of national REACH Helpdesks

http://ec.europa.eu/echa/reach/helpdesk/nationalhelp_contact_en.html