What will 2011 reveal about REACH?

Successes and failures from the first set of REACH registrations in 2010 are expected to impact the use of products on the EU market and beyond, as well as influence chemical legislation initiatives across the globe. In particular, industry and regulators will become engaged with Evaluation during 2011, where data submitted in registration dossiers are reviewed and potentially challenged.  

Customers in the EU will begin facing the knock-on requirements of registrations from 2010, changes in classification under the EU implementation of the Globally Harmonised System (GHS), conditions imposed by Exposure Scenarios and even 'uses advised against'. But 2011 also brings new obligations, such as the need to notify substances of very high concern (SVHC) to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

At the same time, the next registration deadline is only 2 ½ years away. This second phase of registration presents additional management hurdles, as it involves a large number of substances that may be relatively 'data poor' compared with substances registered in 2010. Companies must therefore already begin planning, in particular with regards to budgeting for this next step in REACH.

2011 therefore presents industry and regulators with a critical year for gaining experience with how REACH actually works in practice.  In turn, changes in official guidance and a legislative review in 2012 offer the possibility of improvements to the workability of REACH. 

With this in mind, iSmithers and Smithers Rapra are bringing the ninth REACH conference to Atlanta next spring and are currently recruiting speakers.  The conference aims to answer many of the questions on people's mind, such as what is the best strategy for industry to adopt to meet these requirements and what damage limitation controls can be put in place for 2011 if suppliers fail to meet their obligations.

iSmithers is currently inviting papers across the following subjects:

• Practical experiences: successes/ failures
• Experiences of a Lead Registrant
• Experiences of a consortium manager
• Supply chain communications
• Downstream User assessments
• Registration updates in practice
• Cost management for 2013
• Contractual considerations
• Confidentiality claims
• Evaluation
• Alternatives to testing
• US views of REACH
• Global initiatives
• Impact of REACH on Product Stewardship
• Requirements under the Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulation (CLP)
• Interaction between GHS & REACH
• Extended Safety Data Sheets
• Restrictions
• Authorisation
• Market opportunities (from registration)
• Product design and reformulation
• SVHC management and notifications
• Enforcement