REACh Impact

 

Resource Commitment:

 

In order to achieve the goals set by the EU Commission in passing the REACh Regulation all the REACh stakeholders - i.e. producers, importers, downstream users and dealers - are required to implement those aspects of REACh which affect them into their daily business routines. Due to the highly complex nature of the requirements one can expect a great deal of time, effect and financial expenditure to go into implementing the REACh demands. This will entail committing resources which will then be lacking elsewhere.

 

Increased Costs

 

Registering substances involves not only the actual cost of registration (registration fee) but also the cost of any studies needing to be carried out. Depending on the amount of the substance produced or imported the costs can quickly reach a figure of anything up to 1 million €. One expects the producers and importers to pass on these costs to their customers, i.e. the price of the products is bound to rise.

 

Availability of Raw and Basic Materials

 

The REACh Regulation may have a considerable impact on the availability of chemical substances. Certain substances may not be available on the European market at all - or only in limited amounts, if the substances have not yet been registered or their authorisation for a certain application not yet granted.

 

Product and Process Quality

 

Should a substance not be available for production or for a specific production process because the registration has either not been completed, an application has not been included in the registration process, the authorisation has not been granted or restrictions have been set with regard to the production and application of the substance, this can adversely effect the product or process quality.

 

Product and Process Development

 

When developing new or further developing existing products, as well as during process development, substance availability will be one of those factors requiring considerably more focus in future.

 

Changing Processes and Procedures

 

The professional user will have to pay more attention than ever to the specifications laid out in the (extended) safety data sheets as far as application and risk management measures are concerned. It may be necessary to observe newly-defined limits (DNEL and PNEC levels). Production and application restrictions will also have to be taken into consideration. These are all aspects which may mean having to make changes to your processes and procedures.