EtOH-REACH Launches Joint Registration Initiative for European Ethanol Industry
Taking effect on 1 June 2007, REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) is the European chemicals legislation which applies to all 27 EU countries plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. According to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, every chemical marketed in these countries in a quantity over 1 tonne per year, including ethanol, requires ‘registration’, which involves the submission of a complex and expensive dossier containing a hazard assessment, exposure scenarios and a chemical safety Report. Ethanol must be registered by all its EU-based manufacturers and importers, as well as by only representatives of non-EU-based manufacturers and formulators. Ethanol registrants will number several hundred in total.
As a first step, ‘pre-registration’ is required for existing substances such as ethanol, and this is only possible between I June and 30 November 2008. No extensions will be permitted, and late registration will only be possible in exceptional cases. If a substance is not pre-registered, producing and marketing that substance in Europe will not be permitted until its complete, official registration has taken place.
Pre-registration is an administrative act. It is done on-line with the European Chemicals Agency. ECHA does not charge a fee for pre-registration. The REACH Pre-Registration Guide contains advice on who should pre-register, on which substances to pre-register, and it takes the reader though the process step by step.
In response to the legal chemicals registration obligation outlined in REACH, Europe’s leading ethanol manufacturers have united to establish EtOH-REACH to facilitate Joint Submissions of high-quality dossiers for registration.
Under REACH, Joint Submissions of one single, ‘fit for purpose’ dossier for registration by registrants of the same substance is legally possible and officially encouraged. Furthermore, in the case of ethanol, a high-quality dossier is desired in order to withstand evaluation by EU Member State competent authorities. Therefore, it is optimal to produce one single, high-quality dossier which also allows for a sharing of costs and other burdens by the registrants. Considering the many legal implications of such co-operation among registrants of ethanol, this co-operation was formalised with the establishment of EtOH-REACH.
EtOH-REACH offers its Members the opportunity to jointly submit high-quality dossiers for registration. Members participating in Joint Submissions do not have to produce the dossiers individually, saving each of them time, money and other valuable company resources. Members gain easy access to the necessary dossiers and other useful information at a fraction of the actual cost. They will also be informed about other important REACH topics and issues and do not have to work on their own through this daunting realm of regulatory compliance.
A comprehensive REACH Pre-Registration Guide is available cost-free to the ethanol industry with online Membership registration at the Ethanol REACH Association’s (EtOH-REACH) newly launched website.
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