According to the EU ( eu ) In 2019, chemical companies will report to the European Chemical Products Agency ( European Chemicals Agency ) The information provided will be subject to more stringent scrutiny.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, is expected to issue a draft law earlier this year requiring companies to update reach, which has been submitted to ECHA ( Regulations on registration, evaluation and authorization of chemicals . one thousand nine hundred and seven / two thousand and six ) Registration file under.

Reach includes the company's general obligation to update its registration file when new material information is obtained. In order to trade legally in the EU market, companies must register that they produce or import more than one metric ton of chemical products per year.

But the implementation of reach has been troubled by the following problems : There are concerns that the information provided in the registration files is not enough for the safe handling of substances, and that companies are not able to update their files in a timely manner.

Bjorn Hansen, executive director of ECHA ( Bjorn Hansen ) On the environment of Pember ( Bloomberg Environment ) He said that in 2019, ECHA will "vigorously promote" the recommendations under the committee's deliberation, especially the compliance with reach's chemical safety information provisions. "We want the whole organization to pay more attention to compliance issues."

Inspection and evaluation

Although the deadline for reach registration has passed in 2018, and all chemical products traded within the EU should now be registered, companies should not expect less regulatory review and no less requirements for new or updated information on their substances.

Volker soballa, product director at chemical company Evonik industries AG, said : "R" in reach is still very active : It needs to be updated based on current knowledge and guidelines to adjust the archive. "

In 2019, enterprises will have to take the new regulations on nanomaterials seriously.

Substance evaluation under reach is a process of evaluating compounds with suspected hazards, which usually involves binding requests for new data from registrants. If substances prove harmful, they may be nominated for a series of regulatory measures, possibly including bans within the EU.

31 on the menu

In 2019, the assessment of 31 suspected hazardous substances will continue or begin. The results of the assessment are shared by EU authorities.

With regard to nanomaterials, the Committee adopted an amendment in December to more clearly list the specific data that should be provided in the registration file of nanomaterials. Until then, reach did not distinguish between Nano form and standard form.

The new requirements for nanomaterials will be implemented from January 1, 2020, and enterprises need to prepare for them all the time in 2019.

Erwin anys, director of reach at the European Council of chemical industry, told pemberenvironment that there may be some problems in implementing the requirements for nanomaterials, which are related to the analytical methods used to identify nanomaterials and the lack of specialized laboratories.

"Constructive communication"

For some companies, continuous compliance with reach means managing hundreds of registration files.

BASF spokesman Florian · Soli ( Florian Tholey ) In BASF, the number is about 1800, and each file is regarded as a living document and needs to be constantly reviewed, he said.

Langsheng has submitted about 1000 registration documents, and reach "is still a challenge for us," said spokesperson Daniela · Eltrop ( Daniela Eltrop ) Tell the environment ( Bloomberg Environment )? Eltrop said the update should be based on "constructive communication and specific file compliance checks" because the "general criticism" of the quality of reach documents by relevant departments can be counterproductive.

Eveline kooiman, a spokesman for Dow Chemical Europe, said, " A dialogue between industry and ECHA is needed to reach a consensus on the expected level of quality of archives. " Ann Wurman, a spokesman for ExxonMobil, told the company that "full compliance with REACH regulations will continue" in 2019.

Smooth implementation

Hansen of ECHA said that after the registration deadline in 2018, 10 years after reach was implemented, ECHA would "draw lessons" in order to "make faster decisions" on authorization, restrictions and enforcement.

Under reach, substances can be banned from use in the EU, although companies can apply for specific continued use authorizations. Restrictions are specific restrictions on the use of substances, such as banning the use of these substances in certain products.

Hansen said ECHA and EU countries would study the problems in these processes " Key decision points " To determine how to streamline these processes.

For example, reach requires enterprises to analyze possible substitutes when applying for authorization to use other prohibited substances to see if there are other substitutes. What's clear, Hansen said, is how extensive this assessment of alternatives needs to be.