REACH Update: REACH-IT Status and ECHA Activities

Posted: June 30, 2008

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This no longer applies under REACH and these ingredients, when manufactured or imported in quantities above one ton, must be registered as of June 1, 2008, if they do not fall under an exemption. Extended registration deadlines do not apply since these ingredients are not phase-in substances.

Recently, the European Commission informed the ECHA about this specific issue for cosmetic ingredients. As a consequence, the ECHA encourages companies manufacturing or importing these substances (individually, in preparations, or in articles in a quantity above one ton/year) to contact the ECHA by signing up, with an inquiry to follow. With this approach, details on the status of materials and further information will be provided to the companies concerned. A company sign-up can be completed via REACH-IT, and inquiries for temporary procedures (see above) apply.

Key Summary

• On June 1, 2008, REACH-IT was activated on the ECHA Web site
• IT problems experienced with the online system require further technical improvement
• Temporarily, only single substances can be pre-registered online via the REACH-IT portal
• A bulk pre-registration on REACH-IT using IUCLID 5 or XML will be made available later
• Temporary submission procedures exist for PPORD notifications, inquiries and registrations
• Temporarily PPORD notifications, inquiries and registrations should be submitted to the ECHA either by e-mail or by registered mail/courier service
• The issue of specific nonphase-in substances used as cosmetic ingredients has been addressed by the European Commission
• ECHA invites companies manufacturing or importing these substances to contact the ECHA by signing up, followed by an inquiry

Do you have further questions? Visit C&T magazine’s REACH Round Table.

Additional Useful Information

• New Guidance Documents on REACH: Guidance on registration (2nd update) - May 26, 2008
• Guidance for articles - May 26, 2008
• Guidance on information requirements and CSA - May 29, 2008
• Guidance for monomers and polymers (2nd update) - May 29, 2008

-Annelie Struessman, PhD, CONUSBAT

*Readers are reminded that the text of the REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 is the only authentic legal reference. The information in this column does not constitute legal advice.