DATE: |
March 1, 2007 |
TIME: |
8:30 AM to 12:00 noon 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM One-on-one meetings |
LOCATION: |
Courtyard at the Marriot 21 Juniper Street Philadelphia, PA |
| ADMISSION: | $95 |
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Chemical manufacturing is the #1 export for both Pennsylvania and Delaware; therefore, REACH is an "essential topic" for you! REACH will affect all global supply chains that produce and use chemicals. U.S. exporters to Europe should carefully consider this proposed piece of EU environmental legislation.
The European Union’s 25 Member States have agreed to adopt a major reform of the EU’s chemicals policy that will affect producers of these chemicals and manufacturers of products that incorporate these chemicals. The new chemicals policy is called REACH: Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals, and it will affect a broad spectrum of U.S. companies across industry sectors (pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals, cosmetics, cleaning products, etc.).
Through featured speakers including Commercial Specialist Flavie Guerin of CS Brussels, Market Access & Compliance staff from the Europe office and EU compliance attorneys from Allen & Overy LLC this conference will help prepare you to be ready for the process to be put in place.
Highlights of Conference Topics:
- REACH the Basics
- Preparing a ‘Registration Dossier’
- Requirements for REACH
- Authorization for Exporting to the EU
- One-on-One Requested Meetings
REACH Background
The European Parliament approved Dec. 13 a new system for regulating the import, manufacture, marketing and use of chemicals that will come into force June 1, 2007. The Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) system now goes to the European Council, where ministers from the 25 European Union member countries are expected to sign it into law Dec. 18. The program will affect a wide range of products made with chemical substances, from electronics to apparel.
A press release from the European Commission states that REACH will require some 30,000 chemicals currently on the market to be registered with a new European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) over a period of 11 years. The registration process will help regulatory authorities “fill information gaps on the hazards of substances and … identify appropriate risk management measures to ensure their safe use,” the commission stated. Those substances deemed to have an elevated risk will be subject to additional evaluations. The use of an estimated 1,600 substances of “very high concern” – such as those that cause cancer, infertility, genetic mutations or birth defects and those that accumulate in humans and the environment – will be subject to authorization by the ECHA. A Parliament press release notes that applicants for authorization will have to include a plan for substituting less-hazardous alternatives; if none exists, they will have to present a plan for conducting research to find one.
According to the commission, the first obligation under the new system, pre-registration, will begin June 1, 2008, and conclude Nov. 30, 2008. Registration will then be required in three and a half, six or eleven years depending on the production volume and risk associated with the substance.
A statement from the American Chemistry Council claims that REACH will “unnecessarily stifle trade and innovation.” Council President Jack Gerard noted that the program approved by the European Parliament “has not addressed many of the key concerns repeatedly expressed by industry and major EU trading partners.” Gerard said the council is particularly concerned about the requirement that companies submit substitution plans for hazardous substances. “Industry, suppliers and downstream users have a long and successful tradition of innovating, developing and using safer and better alternatives,” he noted. “But these results cannot be mandated, particularly under the strict time and bureaucratic constraints imposed by this legislation.”
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