REACH Update: SIEFs and Consortia

Posted: February 12, 2008

The purpose of substance information exchange forums (SIEFs) is to facilitate the exchange of information, to avoid duplication of studies and animal testing, and to agree on classification and labelling of chemical substances. Members in a SIEF are the manufacturers, or their appointed third party representatives; importers; and only representatives of non-EU manufacturers who have submitted the pre-registration information on the same substance. Other parties that may submit this information and become a member in the SIEF (Article 28(7)) include: manufacturers or importers of phase-in substances in quantities of less than 1 ton per year, downstream users of those substances and third parties holding information on the substance.

Companies, that register phase-in substances directly become data holders and will have to respond to data requests from SIEF members.

The purpose of a SIEF is laid out in Article 29 of the REACH regulation where the forums will not be further managed by the ECHA or the EU Commission. Consortia are additional agreements amongst companies approaching the needs of registrants within the REACH processes. The consortia management can be provided by industry associations or by external consultants, and the rules applicable in such consortia must be agreed upon among the consortia members. It is expected that in some industries the consortia will be set up already before June 2008.

Interview with Peter Ungeheuer, PhD, secretary general of EFfCI about consortia formation and the activities of his organization.

The European Federation for Cosmetic Ingredients (EFfCI) represents the manufacturers of chemical and natural ingredients for the cosmetic industry. Established in 2000, EFfCI advocates the collective interests of more than 100 cosmetic ingredient companies in Europe. A key activity of EFfCI is to provide timely and comprehensive information on international cosmetic regulations and on important regulatory, legal, technical and scientific developments, including the support on REACH. For more information abotu the group, visit www.effci.com.