REACH: BASF submits 40,000 preregistrations

05-Dec-2008 - Germany

The European chemicals policy REACH came into force on June 2007. The first stage is now complete with the end of the preregistration phase on 1 December. BASF submitted some 40,000 preregistrations with the ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) in Helsinki by the deadline, making BASF one of the companies most affected by REACH.

„We went into this process well prepared,” said Dr. Ulrich von Deessen, head of the BASF Competence Center Environment, Health and Safety, „The effort has paid off – all our substances have been preregistered on schedule. Success factors include open dialogue with our customers and effective information sharing within the chemical industry. Developing pragmatic solutions with national and European authorities will also contribute to the successful implementation of REACH.”

2010 all substances manufactured or imported in annual volumes of 1000 tonnes or more must be registered. Also here, BASF is well set up to cope with the actual registration phase. The company is working with ECHA on the implementation of individual issues. For example, numerous technical details relevant to implementation of the REACH policy are not itemized in the policy itself, but were worked out in the REACH Implementation Projects (RIP). These projects were accomplished under the aegis of the European Commission in collaboration with industry, member states and non-government organizations. BASF contributed its expertise in the working groups involved.

BASF is working even now on the development of particular tools to expedite REACH’s efficient and pragmatic implementation. The primary aim is to arrive at uniform European standards for the sharing of information. This is intended to ease workload both for the authorities and for industry. „REACH is an important and necessary reform of European chemicals legislation. That is why BASF is supporting the EU Commission in designing the practical implementation of the policy so that the criteria can be met by larger and smaller companies alike”, von Deessen comments.

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/91088/reach-basf-submits-40-000-preregistrations.html