Review of the scope of REACH

REACH applies to all substances manufactured, placed on the market and used in the EU, on their own, in mixtures and in articles. However, a number of substances and uses are exempted from the REACH Regulation by virtue of Article 2, Article 56 and Article 67. Some of these exemptions are construed by way of reference to the scope of other community legislation (for example, Directive 96/29/Euratom on protection of health against the dangers arising from ionising radiation, Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 on medicinal products or Directive 89/107/EEC on food additives in foodstuffs), while REACH specifically establishes that it applies without prejudice to community workplace and environmental legislation.

Article 138(6) of REACH calls on the Commission to carry out a review by 1 June 2012 to assess whether or not to amend the scope of REACH to avoid overlaps with other relevant Community provisions. On the basis of such review, the Commission may if appropriate present a legislative proposal.

The Commission has started the review of the scope of REACH mandated by Article 138(6) and will be assisted by a contractor in the development of this work. Part of the project will be the integration and assessment of stakeholders' contribution to the review. In particular the Commission and the contractor aim at providing stakeholders with an opportunity to share any relevant experiences they may have gathered when facing the challenges of implementing REACH. Any stakeholder who has identified a specific instance where a provision in EU legislation has overlapped with a REACH provision or where there is a gap in the interface between REACH and other EU legislation is welcome to send their contribution to the contractor through the form available at www.reachscope.eu. This website will be operational from 10 March until 1 December 2010.