Advisors urge firms not to rush to register for REACH

REACHReady, an advisory firm dedicated to helping firms comply with the EU's new rules governing the registration of chemicals, has urged firms to wait until July before pre-registering the chemicals they manufacture or import with the European Chemicals Agency (ECA).

The pre-registration period began on the first day of this month and runs until the 1 December. The government is urging firms to take advantage of this period as soon as possible, as those firms that fail to pre-register will have to suspend manufacture or import of any chemicals that have not been pre-registered until the more time-consuming full registration process is completed.

However, REACHReady's Technical Director Jo Lloyd said that firms should not rush to pre-register ,and should instead wait until the initial rush has died down and the IT systems supporting the registration process have been given time to bed in.

"The information REACHReady has received from our authoritative sources suggests the best time to pre-register will be from July to October," she said. "June will be a great opportunity to familiarise yourself with the IT system".

Experts said that the pre-registration process would prove relatively simple, requiring firms to file limited information on the company and the chemicals it handles. Pre-registrants then benefit from delayed registration that allows them to continue to operate, while they complete the more detailed risk assessments required under the new rules.

REACHReady warned that the only challenging part of pre-registration was identifying which substances need to be registered and which firms are affected.

Writing on BusinessGreen.com yesterday, environment minister Phil Woolas warned that many firms that may not expect to be affected by REACH could be cov ered by the legislation.

"If you think that REACH will only affect big businesses who deal in large quantities of chemical products, then think again," he wrote. "If you use chemicals to keep your machinery operating and your premises clean, if you import products like cars or batteries, or if you receive substances containing chemicals through a supplier and use them in an unusual way – then it's likely you'll need to take some action under REACH."