CHEMICAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND DEFENSE

REACH’s Scope

In total, the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) supersedes some 40 legislative texts and is broad in its scope. The regulation applies to all substances with only a few exemptions.

Exemptions from all aspects of REACH -- full exclusions -- exist for the following:

• Radioactive substances;
• Substances under customs supervision;
• Non-isolated intermediates;
• The transport of dangerous substances; and
• Waste.

In addition to these full exclusions, partial exemptions exist for a number of substances, including:

• Those listed in Annex IV (so-called minimum risk substances);
• Those covered by Annex V (e.g., incidental reaction products, by-products, natural substances);
• Those re-imported into the European Union (EU); and
• Those that are exempted from portions of REACH because other EU legislation applies.

Phase-in vs. Non-Phase-In Substances

Under REACH, a substance is either a “phase-in substance” or a “non-phase-in substance.” Phase-in substances -- what used to be referred to in the EU as existing chemicals -- include the following:

• Substances listed on EINECS;
• Substances produced in the EU at least once after 31 May 1992 but never placed on the market; and
• Substances that qualify as no-longer polymers under the EU’s no-longer polymers criteria.

Non-phase-in substances are everything else -- effectively, what used to be known in the EU as new chemicals.