REACH

REACH - the process for the Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals- came into force in June 2007 with great impact on the European chemistry industry.

This new chemical policy obliges the producer/importer to register substances that are being manufactured or imported in quantities above one tonne. Organizations which ignore REACH not only face loss of business, but possible legal action in due course.

It is important to understand that all legal entities that produce or import methanol into the EU are obliged to register, which includes consumers importing this product themselves.

The CEFIC Methanol Sector Group, the Methanol Institute and the International Methanol Producers and Consumers Association (IMPCA) have joined forces to set up a consortium to assist companies in meeting their REACH obligations. This consortium will offer vital support to move your business through the REACH process.

An important part of this process was the collection of Safety, Health and Environmental data on methanol, and the Registration Authorities encouraged the industry to produce a common dossier on this data in order to efficiently process the registrations.

In short, the REACH registration process consisted of two stages. - The first stage was the Pre-Registration in which all legal entities that are producing methanol in the EU, as well as all entities that import methanol into the EU were required to pre-register to the European Chemical Agency (ECHA). This process took place between 1st June and 1st December 2008 - The second stage was the full registration which took place before the 1st December 2010. That registration required registrants to issue a full dossier of technical and safety and environmental risk evaluation data on methanol including exposure scenarios for different uses of derivatives. In order to facilitate an efficient collection and sharing of data according the REACH regulation a Methanol Consortium were formed to prepare such a dossier, to be used by members of this Consortium in their registration.

The Consortium contracted the REACH centrum for managing the secretariat of the Consortium.

For further information please Use this link: http://www.reachcentrum.eu/about.html

More information can be also be found on the following links:

www.cefic.org

www.reachcentrum.eu

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/reach/reach_intro.htm

http://echa.europa.eu

http://www.methanol.org

http://www.reachcentrum.eu/EN/consortium-management/consortia-under-reach/methanol-reach-consortium.aspx