Registration, Evaluation, and Authorisation of CHemicals REACH

However, the cost of simple substitution and shallow innovation can be substantial. The new EU regulations on Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) are expected to result in a large number of chemicals that are currently freely available to vanish from the market. Formulated commercial products such as inks, adhesives and paints can contain up to 60 individual chemicals in one formulation. If one of these is withdrawn as a result of REACH, the potential costs of reformulation can be very high. 

Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH), European Commission, Brussels, Belgium, May 2003. 

To conclude, research, applications and expectations with regard to emulsions are permanently evolving. Changes in the macro-economic context along with various political decisions (e.g., sustainable development. Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) directive for the European Union) are factors which influence the conditions in which emulsion-based products are fabricated and used. It is probable that these changes will motivate technological developments and new advances in emulsion science. 

The ideas behind the adoption of a new EU chemicals strategy was laid out in a 2001 EC Communication on a Strategy for a Future Chemicals Policy (COM (2001) 88). This document took stock of the system that existed at the time and called for a new strategy based on a system for the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals - REACH. The Communication set out seven objectives that needed to be balanced within the overall framework of sustainable development ... 

This publication is significant given the fact that the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) proposal entered into force in the European Union in June 2007. Additionally, the regional consultation of the Strategic Agreement on International Chemicals Management (SAICM) in Asia was held in May 2007. 

European Commission White Paper proposes a new regulatory system for chemicals comprising three components registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (REACH)... 

A White Paper published by the European Commission in February 2001 identified inadequacies in the current arrangements and proposed a new system for the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (REACH). The proposal will change the current procedures for submissions of risk assessments and is discussed later in this chapter. Risk-based decision-making thus has become... 

The number of chemical substances that are in use and constitute a potential risk to the environment exceeds today 100.000 (EEA 1998). Even with the proposed new system for registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals, REACH, the number of chemicals that will be included in this scheme will be approx. 30.000 (COM 2001 COM 2003). It is obvious that it is not practically possible experimentally to generate all necessary input for the risk assessment of these compounds. Information concerning the fate and effects of these substances in the environment is needed and may be obtained through modelling, e.g., by comparison with structurally re-... 

Revisions are being made to chemical control measures by describing the key facts and objectives of future chemicals policy in EU legislation through the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) regulation, which will be effective in 2007. REACH is expected to have major implications for European chemical producers and downstream users, since it is anticipated that around 30,000 chemicals will need to be screened for their health and environmental impact [8, 33, 34, 35]. 

The European Commission proposed a new EU regulatory framework for the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) on 29 October 2003 [15]. The aim is to improve the protection of human health and the environment through the bettr and earlier identification of the properties of chemical substances. At the same time, innovative capability and competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry should be enhanced. The benefits of the REACH system will come gradually, as more and more substances are phased into REACH. 

---