Registration – No data, no market

REACH requires each manufacturer and importer of a substance from outside the EU, and each producer and importer of articles containing a substance intended to be released, to submit a registration dossier to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) once the manufacture or import reaches one tonne or more per year. Companies responsible for these activities must collect information on the properties and uses of the substance they manufacture or import, and assess the hazards and potential risks posed. This information is submitted to ECHA in a registration dossier via a specific IT system, known as REACH-IT. A standard set of data is required for each substance – the amount of information depending on the tonnage of the substance.

If a manufacturer or importer does not register the substances he manufactures or imports, then he will not be able to manufacture or import them legally.

How to register:

• The registration process
• Duty to inquire

Exemptions from registration

Some substances are exempt from registration requirements. This can be the case for example for substances covered by other legislation or for substances for which sufficient information is known so that they are considered to cause minimal risk because of their intrinsic properties.

There are total exemptions from REACH for some substances including radioactive substances, waste or non-isolated intermediates. Partial exemptions, where registration is not required, exist for scientific research and development, food and feedstuffs and medicinal products. Registration is not required for substances listed in Annexes IV and V or the REACH Regulations and re-import or recovery of a registered substance. All exemptions are listed in Article 2 of the REACH Regulation.

In addition to exemptions, active substances for use in plant protection or biocidal products, as well as substances already notified under Directive 67/548/EEC, are considered as already registered under REACH.