What is REACH?

REACH is a new European Union regulation concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals. It came into force on 1st June 2007 and replaces a number of European Directives and Regulations with a single system. This regulation comes into force with a gradual implementation of the obligations through 2018.

REACH requires manufacturers and importers of chemical substances may be obliged to either (i) register the substances they use or import, and/or (ii) provide information to their customers pertaining to certain substances known as Substances of Very High Concern (“SVHC’s”).

How does this affect Arrow and our customers?
Arrow is a distributor of “Articles” with locations inside of the EU. We does not sell Articles containing chemicals that are intended to be released under normal and reasonably foreseeable conditions of use. Therefore, Arrow are not planning to pre-register or register any substances, since pre-registration or registration is not required under these circumstances.

Since the List of SVHCs was published Arrow has contacted our suppliers (both located inside and outside of the EU) in order to obtain the information pertaining to any Articles containing SVHC’s.

Please see link on the status of the presence of SVHCs in our supplier products and link to relevant information provided by suppliers which is updated as new supplier information is recieved and will be updated as new SHVCs are published on the Candidate list.

Arrow is monitoring all new developments and obligations with regard to REACh and Annex XIV (the “Candidate list”). Should either of these change and affect our obligations to our customers we will update this information

More Information on Reach

Aims
REACH has several aims:

• To provide a high level of protection of human health and the environment from the use of chemicals.
• To make the people who place chemicals on the market (manufacturers and importers responsible for understanding and managing the risks associated with their use.)
• To allow the free movement of substances on the EU market.
• To enhance innovation in and the competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry.
• To promote the use of alternative methods for the assessment of the hazardous properties of substances e.g. quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) and read across.

Authorisation
In order to place on the market or use substances with properties that are deemed to be of "very high concern"industry must apply for an authorisation. The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in Helsinki will publish an initial list containing substances to be considered for the authorisation process by 1 June 2009. A company wishing to market or use such a substance must submit an application to the ECHA for an authorisation. Decisions on authorisation are made by the European Commission, taking advice from the ECHA and member states. Applicants will have to demonstrate that risks associated with uses of these substances are adequately controlled or that the socio-economic benefits of their use outweigh the risks. Applicants must also analyse whether there are safer suitable alternatives or technologies. If there are then they must prepare substitution plans and if not then they should provide information on research and development activities if appropriate.

Restrictions
Any substance that poses a particular threat that is deemed to require Community-wide action can be restricted. Restrictions take many forms, for example, from a total ban to not being allowed to supply it to the general public. Restrictions can be applied to any substance, including those that do not require registration. This part of REACH takes over the provisions of the Marketing & Use Directive.

Classification and labelling
An important part of chemical safety is clear information about any hazardous properties of a substance. The classification of different chemicals according to their characteristics (for example, those that are corrosive, or toxic to fish, etc.) currently follows an established system, which is reflected in REACH. A new EU CLP regulation will come into force from January 2009 and will dovetail with REACH.

Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC)
Some substances have hazards that have serious consequences, e.g. they cause cancer (carcinogenic), or they have other harmful properties and remain in the environment for a long time (persistent) and gradually build up in animals (bioaccumulative). These are 'substances of high very concern[20]'. This category also includes substances demonstrated to be of equivalent concern, such as “endocrine disruptors”. One of the aims of REACH is to control the use of such substances via authorisation and encourage industry to substitute these substances for safer ones.

Substances meeting these criteria may be placed on one or both of two lists that are defined in the REACH Regulation: the so called ‘Candidate List’ and the ‘Annex XIV List’.

A potential SVHC may be prioritised by national REACH Competent Authorities, or by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) at the request of the European Commission (EC), and a dossier prepared for nomination of the substance for inclusion on the Candidate List. The list of proposed substances is then published on the ECHA website and interested parties are invited to submit comments within a set timeframe. If no comments are received, the substance will be automatically included on the Candidate List. However, if comments are received, ECHA will refer the dossier to its Member State Committee where agreement will be sought as to whether the substance meets the Article 57 criteria. If there is failure to reach a unanimous agreement at the Member State Committee then the EC will prepare a draft proposal on the identification of the substance and a final decision subsequently taken in accordance with the comitology procedure laid out in Article 133.

It is only once a substance is placed on the Candidate List that the specific responsibilities are placed on industry.