Review of REACH 2012

Background and Scope

REACH has been in force for 5 years, and several important milestones in its implementation have already passed. The Commission will launch a  review which will consist of the legally required reviews and reports: (a) the review of ECHA (Article 75.2), (b) the review to assess whether or not to amend the scope of REACH in order to avoid overlaps with other EU legislation (Article 138.6), and (c) a general report from the experience acquired in the operation of the regulation (Article 117.4) including a review of the requirements relating to registration of  low tonnage substances Article 138(3) and the information submitted by the Member States and ECHA in their respective reports on the operation of REACH (Art.117(1)(2)(3). All these review and reports are to be published by 1 June 2012.

In addition, the review will include a report on the first lessons learnt from the implementation of REACH with special attention to the costs and administrative burden and other impacts on innovation.

All of these reviews and reports will be presented as a package by 1 June 2012, accompanied by a Chapeau Communication to give a complete overview.

Methodology

To inform the 2012 review process, the Commission will, or has already launched, several thematic studies. They address the following issues which may provide inputs to the Commission services during the review:

• The (nominal) risk caused by chemicals in 2012 compared to the 2007 (a follow-up of the baseline study of REACH)
• Review of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) based on Article 75 of Regulation (EC) N° 1907/2006
• The REACH contribution to the development, commercialization and uptake of products of emerging technologies
• Implementation and enforcement of restrictions in Member States
• Impact of the REACH regulation on the innovativeness of EU chemical industry
• Inspections requirements for REACH and CLP
• Functioning of the European chemical market after the introduction of REACH regulation
• Technical assistance related to the scope of REACH and other relevant EU legislation to assess overlaps
• Technical assistance to prepare the Commission report on operation of REACH
• Review of the registration requirements for 1 to 10 tonnes substances and polymers
• Assessment of health and environmental benefits of REACH
• Review of EU legislation (REACH) concerning nanotechnology

Next steps

As foreseen in article 138 of the Regulation and taking into account the Commission's right of initiative, the Commission may, if appropriate, present a legislative proposal based on the review outcomes and after considering all the expected socio-economic effects through a proper impact assessment process, bearing also in mind, among others, potential impacts on the next registration deadlines (2013 and 2018).

In parallel, the Commission will consider practical approaches to better implement the current legislation e.g. by improving existing guidance documents and/or by preparing new ones, where necessary.

If you want to be kept informed about the launch of consultation processes or surveys, or want to give feedback to any of the above mentioned studies, please send an email to the following address, stating the study you are interested in: ENTR-ENV-REACH-REVIEW@EC.EUROPA.EU.