4 February 2013
REACH after 5 years: A bit done, more to do
The REACH Regulation came into force in the European Union on 1 June 2007 and remains one of
the most significant pieces of EU legislation relating to the protection of human health and the
environment. This law was the product of almost a decade of efforts to devise a new system for
the control of chemicals throughout the European economy.
After five years of operation, the European Commission conducted a review [1] of the legislation
in 2012, to see how effectively it has operated, to check its impact and to investigate how it might
be improved. The outcome of that review will be released this week.
What is envisioned is a review of the procedures, rather than an opening up of the system to
significant change. Some members of the chemical industry are expected to take this opportunity
to try to undermine the binding aspects of the legislation and insist that it is too burdensome for
them to comply with. This is belied by the fact that Europe’s biggest chemicals company, BASF, has
reversed its opposition to the law, saying in September 2012 that "at the end, it is worth the
money" [2]. Five years of REACH have not decimated the EU chemicals industry.
What is REACH?
The Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals Regulation is an EU
system that controls the chemicals that are used in a large variety of European goods and
products.
The need to standardise laws to control potentially dangerous chemicals was first highlighted at an
informal meeting of EU environment ministers in Chester, UK, in 1998. What followed was a tenyear process of trying to define the scope and methods of such a regulation, with environmental
groups, including Greenpeace, pushing for a strong system with the precautionary principle at its
core, while the chemical industry deployed their considerable lobbying power to try to waterdown the proposals and make them into loose case-by-case rules that had previously existed and
which usually only acted after a problem manifested itself.
When the system came into force in 2007, it was hailed as one of the most significant pieces of
environmental legislation the EU had ever devised [3], and the most comprehensive system
worldwide for the regulation of chemicals. Its main provisions include:
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The registration, evaluation and, if potentially hazardous, the phase out or restriction of
chemicals.
The principle of ‘no data, no market’ – all chemicals must pass through the system before
they can be placed on the market.
The precautionary principle and the principle of substitution – the replacement of
dangerous chemicals with less damaging ones.
Better control of substances of very high concern, with the aim of phasing out those that
accumulate in the environment and our bodies, or can cause cancer or reproductive
problems.
The creation of an EU agency for the REACH process – the European Chemicals Agency
(ECHA).
In total, over 30,000 chemicals (of the approximately 100,000 in use in Europe) will eventually be
registered under REACH, making it the largest chemical control programme ever. Herbicides and
pesticides, as well as chemicals used in foods or medicines are excluded from the legislation, as
they already have their own regulatory regimes.
Implementation
The system is scheduled to come into force over time, requiring producers and importers to
register chemicals according to the following deadlines:
 By December 2010: all substances for which production or import exceeds 1,000 tonnes
per annum (tpa); all chemicals that are “very toxic to aquatic life” with a production of over
100 tpa; Carcinogens, mutagens and reprotoxins over 1 tpa (roughly 2,500 chemicals).
 June 2013: All chemicals over 100 tpa (roughly 3,500 chemicals).
 June 2018: All chemicals over 1 tpa (roughly 25,000 chemicals).
Under REACH, companies that wish to continue to put on the market chemicals that are
particularly harmful must apply for a special authorisation. The “Substances of Very High Concern”
(SVHCs) include cancer and mutation causing chemicals, persistent toxins that build up in animals
and nature, and hormone imitating chemicals that can have negative health effects. These
substances are proposed for addition to a “candidate list” after being submitted by member states
and the Commission; from there feedback is received from experts, companies and NGOs. The
Commission take the final decision on the items on the list together with the member states. From
the candidate list, they await being moved to the ‘Authorization Annex’ - a list of chemicals that
must either be phased out, replaced with safer alternatives or allowed for specialised use if
justified.
The ultimate goal with respect to these dangerous chemicals is their substitution with non- or lessdangerous alternatives while increasing innovation in “green chemistry” and competitiveness in
the alternatives’ markets.
What needs to improve?
REACH is not perfect, however. Loopholes were worked into the legislation thanks to industry
lobbying from the likes of chemical giant BAYER. The system applies to new chemicals, but those
in the market before 1981 require a much less stringent examination. Many chemicals – some very
toxic – known to be on the market are produced in quantities under one tonne per annum and will
therefore not have to be registered. In addition, less chemical safety data is required in
companies’ registration dossiers for chemicals in the 1-10 tpa range; this may change in 2014.
Currently, only about 150 phase-out chemicals are under examination under REACH, although it is
estimated that about 1,500 of the 30,000 total chemicals covered by the regulation are likely to be
of ‘high concern’. Only 27 are on the ‘Authorisation Annex’, the list of ‘sunset chemicals’ (subject
to potential special authorization).
Greenpeace and other environmental groups have criticised the slow speed of the evaluation
process and the low number of dangerous chemicals identified each year for substitution. Many
member states are yet to submit a single chemical for phase out. Furthermore, many of the
chemical companies’ initial registration dossiers (that provide the information for the evaluation
of chemicals) are of poor quality and contain inadequate information, making it difficult to assess
their danger.
What’s next?
This review is the perfect opportunity for the Commission to address some of the shortcomings of
the current system and to make sure that chemicals that are known to be or are potentially
hazardous are controlled and eliminated faster and more effectively.
The principle of substitution must be the primary focus of REACH over the next five years in order
to make the programme a real success and ensure that it fulfils its aims of actually removing
harmful chemicals from our environment.
The Commission must take advantage of some of the existing mechanisms to greatly speed up the
number of chemicals undergoing the evaluation process.
With this this in mind, Greenpeace would like to see the following changes:
 Increase the number of chemicals on the candidate list destined for phase out. This can be
achieved through the involvement of more member states. Many have submitted no
dossiers to ECHA; all need to play their part in the process.
 Actively promote the substitution of hazardous chemicals.
 ECHA and member states must require companies to improve the quality of chemical
registration dossiers, to better screen what is placed on the market and identify the
hazardous chemicals to prioritise for phase-out.
NOTES
[1] http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/reach/review_2012_en.htm
[2] http://www.euractiv.com/sustainability/reach-chemical-law-worth-money-b-news-514565
[3] Former Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP07-745_en.htm
Contacts:
Kevin Stairs – Greenpeace EU Chemicals policy director: +32 (0)0476 961376 (mobile), [email protected]
Ed Davitt – Greenpeace EU communications officer: +32 (0)476 988584 (mobile), [email protected]
This press release is also available on www.greenpeace.eu
For breaking news and comment on EU affairs: www.twitter.com/GreenpeaceEU
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the
environment and to promote peace. Greenpeace does not accept donations from governments, the EU, businesses or political parties.