New ruling requires preregistration of chemicals bound for EU

SOUTH AFRICAN companies
exporting chemicals to
Britain and other European
Union destinations have been
warned that chemical imports
to those countries will have to
be pre-registered.
From the end of this year,
chemicals imported into
Europe in amounts of one ton
per year or more will need
to be registered with a new
European Chemicals Agency
(ECHA) in Helsinki.
The legislation applies to
all companies that directly
import anything from outside
the EU, be it chemicals,
mixtures (eg paints, cosmetics,
intermediates, polymers),
finished products (eg
clothes or plastic goods) or
articles (eg scented candles)
containing substances
intended for release, according
to official Registration,
Evaluation, Authorisation
and Restriction of Chemicals
(Reach) documentation.
Exporters may find their
products turned back if their
customers fail to pre-register.
Businesses that preregister
their chemicals
by December 1, 2008, will
benefit from three staggered
deadlines for full registration.
These are December 1,
2010 for over 1 000 tons per
year (this threshold lowers
to 100 tons for substances
classed as ‘very toxic to
aquatic organisms’ or one
ton for Category 1 or 2
carcinogens, mutagens or
reproductive toxicants);
June 1, 2013 for more than
100 tons per year; and June 1,
2018 for more than
1 ton annually.
Companies outside the
EU cannot register chemicals
themselves, but can appoint
an EU-based agent – an ‘only
representative’ to act on
their behalf.
More information
on Reach can be found
at HYPERLINK "http://
www.hse.gov.uk/reach" \o
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uk/reach" www.hse.gov.uk/
reach.