Around 2% of substances to be withdrawn in Reach

MUMBAI (ICIS news)--About 2% of the total substances used in Europe are estimated to be withdrawn due to their hazardous composition under Reach, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Some substances which are very hazardous and do not conform to the safety standards would be denied trade in Europe, and this could be up to 2% of the total substances being dealt with in the region, said director of Reach Only Representative Ben Gandhi, speaking at the Chemspec India conference in Mumbai.

“Most of the Indian companies are still very unclear about Reach regulations and the Indian government too has not done anything to increase awareness as against the Korean and the Turkish government who have been very pro active,” he added.

The European Commission's adopted proposal explains the kind of substances that are exempt, but the interpretation of the guidelines is very complicated, he added.

Manufacturers and importers of applicable products are required to pre-register these substances between 1 June and 30 November, an official from another only representative company said, adding that post signing up a list of substances requiring pre-registration will be made public within 19 months.

As opposed to Indian companies, firms based in the US and Korea are well prepared for Reach, he said.

Reach - the EU's registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals scheme - came into effect in June 2007 and will replace around 40 separate pieces of legislation covering the sale and use of chemicals.

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly