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Users of chemicals: make sure your suppliers register your substances in time

The safe use of chemicals at your workplace is based on the advice you get from your suppliers. Make sure that substances critical to your business are registered by the 31 May 2018 deadline and that your uses will be covered.

Helsinki, 13 June 2016 – ECHA encourages industry to check whether low-volume substances critical to their production will be registered by manufacturers or importers by the final REACH registration deadline on 31 May 2018.

Geert Dancet, ECHA's Executive Director comments: "The downstream users of chemicals play an essential role under REACH and they should request assurance from their suppliers that all necessary substances will be registered in time. This helps to avoid interruptions in supply".

Under REACH, downstream users have the right to make their specific use known to their supplier. "When registrants base their assessment on use information from downstream users, this helps to ensure that the advice downstream users receive is directly applicable and that safety data sheets and exposure scenarios of the different uses are becoming easier to read and implement" Geert Dancet adds.

The information to registrants flows most efficiently through sector organisations, many of which are developing use maps that describe the typical uses of their sector. Use maps describe specific uses and conditions of use in harmonised templates agreed among industry stakeholders. If you are a downstream user, contact your sector organisation to find out if they are preparing a sector use map that covers your uses. If you need to communicate any niche applications directly to registrants, you can also use these templates. Sector organisations that are not yet involved can contact ECHA for more information.

Background

The last REACH registration deadline of 31 May 2018 concerns substances that are manufactured or imported in low volumes, between 1-100 tonnes per year. Manufacturers and importers have started their registration preparations already.

Downstream user industry associations are generating "use maps" that describe the typical uses and conditions of use within a sector by filling in an agreed template. These will be available on ECHA's website. This harmonises the information flow to the registrants and provides it efficiently on a sector-wide basis.

ECHA's downstream user web pages provide wide-ranging support to users of chemicals, much of it in 23 languages. The Agency's REACH 2018 web pages serve as a one-stop shop helping companies to register, and information on all the substances already registered is available in the chemicals database.

Further information

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is an Agency of the European Union implementing EU chemical regulations. ECHA is working for the safe use of chemicals, improving the protection of human health and the environment while enhancing the competitiveness of the European industry. http://echa.europa.eu

 

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