30 November 2010: Last call for companies to register chemicals under REACH

ERJ staff report (DS)

Brussels / Helsinki -- The European Commission reminds companies that they must register the most widely used or most dangerous chemicals by the deadline of 30 November this year, less than 12 weeks from now. Registration is one of the milestones of REACH, the EU Regulation on chemicals and their safe use.

Companies are also reminded that they must notify the Classification and Labelling of their chemicals to European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) by 3 January next year.

As of 10 September about 4000 dossiers have been submitted to the ECHA and the rate is increasing very rapidly. Companies are urged to finalise their dossiers and submit them as soon as possible. Lead registrants are encouraged to register by 30 September, to allow a safety margin in case of problems with their registrations and sufficient time for other registrants to introduce their dossiers before end November. Companies must submit their dossier electronically via the REACH-IT tool.

Companies are also reminded that they need to reclassify the substances they sell according to new rules on classification and labelling by 1 December 2010, and then notify the classifications to ECHA by 3 January 2011. Geert Dancet, ECHA Executive Director added "Our advice to companies preparing for CLP is to get ready to notify on time. ECHA and national helpdesks are available to help and support industry, especially SMEs, to comply with their obligations". Classification is essential to determine whether a chemical is dangerous for health and the environment, and it will determine the information on the labels of products that workers and consumers use. It is important to note that these notifications must also be sent for small quantities of chemicals. This means many more companies are affected including SMEs.

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Press release from European Commission