REACHblog®

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) will hold two webinars on September 23, 2026, and November 5, 2026, aimed at assisting micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SME) with meeting chemical regulatory obligations. September 23, 2026, from 11:00-13:00 (Helsinki time), SME webinar: Steps for notifying to poison centres; and November 5, 2026, from 11:00-13:00 (Helsinki time), Applying for reduced fees: what SMEs need to do....

The European Unions (EU) new hazard classes are approaching the end of their transitional period for substances placed on the EU market and in the supply chain before 1 May 2025. Introduced by the EU Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/707, the new hazard classes cover the following properties: Endocrine disruption (ED) for human health and the environment; Persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT); Very persistent, very bioaccumulative (vPvB); Persistent, mobile, and toxic (PMT); and...

Following the April 27, 2026, European Parliament Environmental Committee announcement that the European Commission (EC) would not proceed with a legislative proposal for a comprehensive revision of the European Union’s (EU) Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation, major reforms -- such as the registration of polymers -- appear to be off the table. Technical amendments to the REACH Annexes through comitology remain possible, however, although it...

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Designated National Authority (DNA) for Great Britain (GB), will update the GB PIC list from 28 August 2026. Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012, also known as the GB PIC list, addresses the export and import of hazardous chemicals. Updates to it ensure that decisions to list chemicals under the Rotterdam Convention's PIC procedure for certain hazardous chemicals...

The European Commission (EC) has proposed an update to the European Union’s (EU) Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation to better align with recent revisions to the United Nations’ (UN) Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). The UN GHS is reviewed biannually by the UN’s Economic and Social Council’s Sub-Committee of Experts on the GHS to consider new scientific information and learnings from implementation exercises. Subsequent...

Following the United Kingdom’s (UK) exit from the European Union (EU), any legal entity based in Great Britain (GB) intending to manufacture or import a substance into England, Scotland, and/or Wales at or above one tonne per year is required to submit a registration to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for that substance. This process is typically straightforward. What should a company do, however, when a substance is identified as a New Registration of an Existing Substance (NRES) and no...

On 6 August 2026, the United Kingdom (UK) government extended the UK Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) transitional deadlines for any company manufacturing or importing chemicals into Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales). Grandfathered substances now have one of the following deadlines depending upon the hazardous properties and tonnage band. 27 October 2029: Substances that are manufactured or imported at or above 1,000 metric...

The Council of the European Union (EU) announced on June 30, 2026, that it reached a provisional agreement with the European Parliament (EP) on the management and funding of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). The Council of the EU states that the new rules “will create a standalone legal framework to help ECHA manage its growing number of duties efficiently.” ECHA was established in 2007 under the EU’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)...

The European Commission (EC) announced on May 31, 2026, that it presented a roadmap to phase out animal testing for chemical safety assessments, laying out “clear, tangible steps to ensure the transition to innovative non-animal approaches.” The EC states that the roadmap will also preserve the integrity of safety evaluations, which ensure a high level of protection for human and animal health and the environment. The EC notes that the initiative supports and strengthens the existing...

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) will hold a webinar on May 7, 2026, from 11:00-12:40 (Helsinki time) on the restriction proposal on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). ECHA experts will present the Risk Assessment Committee’s (RAC) final opinion and the Socio-Economic Analysis Committee’s (SEAC) draft opinion, covering hazards, emissions, risks, alternatives, socio-economic impacts, and next steps. The session includes a one-hour live question and answer...

The Development Law Service (LEGN) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will hold a webinar on April 30, 2026, at 14:30 (CEST) aimed at enhancing awareness and understanding of the legal concept of the Rights of Nature. According to FAO, the webinar will clarify the concept of Rights of Nature, highlight relevant jurisprudential and legislative developments across jurisdictions, and explore potential linkages with LEGN’s thematic areas,...

The Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change (MoEUCC) has released an executive summary clarifying temporary registrations and temporary individual registrations under KKDIK (Kimyasalların Kaydı, Değerlendirilmesi, İzni ve Kısıtlanması). The announcement addresses situations where companies have pre-registered substances but cannot proceed with joint registration due to the absence of a lead registrant. In these cases, companies may submit a temporary individual...

As of February 24, 2026, the United Kingdom (UK) government has announced that the interim approaches to adding Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) to the UK Candidate List no longer apply and have been replaced with a new strategic approach. Following the UK’s exit from the European Union (EU), the 2021 interim principles facilitated a case-by-case review process for adding substances to the UK Candidate List, incorporating Regulatory Management Options Analyses (RMOA), and consideration...

After February 5, 2027, companies wishing to benefit from the reduced fees for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SME) must apply for company size validation prior to submitting their Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) dossiers. This contrasts with the current process, where SME status is confirmed retrospectively, after registrations are submitted. Under the European Commission’s updated REACH Fee Regulation, SMEs planning to...

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced on March 3, 2026, that its Risk Assessment Committee (RAC) has concluded its evaluation of the proposal to restrict per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under the European Union’s (EU) Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation. ECHA notes that RAC drew on “an extensive and independent evaluation of PFAS hazards, volumes, emissions, risks and the likely effectiveness of a restriction as well as...

The United Kingdom’s (UK) Health and Safety Executive (HSE) announced on February 3, 2026, that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published a PFAS Plan, a “cross-government, science-led” plan to understand the impacts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on public health and the environment, with coordinated actions to minimize risks. Defra notes that there is no universally agreed definition of PFAS, but states that the Organisation for Economic...

On February 10, 2026, EPPA, a Brussels-based regulatory and public affairs consultancy, will hold a webinar on “Shaping the ETS/CBAM Reforms: Strategic Insights for Energy-Intensive industries.” According to EPPA, as of 2026, both the European Union (EU) Emissions Trading System (ETS) Directive and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) Regulation will undergo significant design changes that will reshape the operating landscape for Europe’s energy-intensive...

As reported in our July 17, 2025, blog item, the United Kingdom’s (UK) Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) began a public consultation on July 14, 2025, on its proposals to extend the UK REACH transitional registration submission deadlines. UK REACH was amended in 2023 to extend the deadlines three years to October 2026, October 2028, and October 2030. The proposed new deadlines under consultation were: Option 1:...

The European Chemicals Agency’s (ECHA) Committees for Risk Assessment (RAC) and for Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC) met in December 2025. According to ECHA’s December 17, 2025, press release, RAC and SEAC progressed their evaluation of the updated proposal to restrict per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under the European Union’s (EU) Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation. According to ECHA, both committees reached provisional...

The European Commission (EC) announced on December 9, 2025, that the Critical Chemicals Alliance will convene its first General Assembly on January 13, 2026, at the Chemelot Chemical Park in the Netherlands. According to the EC, the General Assembly will bring together European Union (EU) member states, regions, industry leaders, and all interested parties “to develop coordinated solutions to strengthen the competitiveness of the EU chemical industry.” The Critical Chemicals...