REACH Pre-registration – have you done it yet?

Issue 28 of our online Employer Bulletin gave details of the new EU chemicals legislation (known as REACH) and how it might affect your business.

In particular, the article drew attention to the pre-registration period (1 June 2008 to 1 December 2008) and how serious commercial consequences could result from a failure to pre-register substances.

If you manufacture or import substances, 'preparations' (ie, mixtures of substances – paints, or adhesives for example), or 'articles' containing substances that are intended for release during their use, (ie, finished goods – such as scented coat hangers or bin liners) then you may have registration obligations under REACH, and would benefit from pre-registering. But hurry! Time is running out to check this and pre-register before the deadline.

Pre-registration does not commit you to registration later, if it turns out that you did not need to. However, it does entitle you to take advantage of the staggered registration available under REACH which could mean you don’t have to finally register until June 2018, if the annual quantities of substances you deal with are between 1 and 100 tonnes. If in doubt, pre-register – it may save you a lot of time and money later on!

Pre-registration is free, and is a simple procedure involving electronic submission of some basic information about the substances you are involved with, to the European Chemicals Agency in Helsinki.

For help and advice on complying with REACH contact the Competent Authority (CA) or phone the national Helpdesk on 0845 408 9575.