Registration en
Registration en
May 2008
(version 1.3)
This document contains guidance on REACH explaining the REACH obligations and how
to fulfil them. However, users are reminded that the text of the REACH regulation is the
only authentic legal reference and that the information in this document does not
constitute legal advice. The European Chemicals Agency does not accept any liability with
regard to the contents of this document.
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PREFACE
This Guidance Document describes when and how to register a substance under REACH. It consists
of two parts: one on Registration tasks and obligations and the other on the preparation of the
Registration Dossier. It is part of a series of guidance documents that are aimed to help all
stakeholders with their preparation for fulfilling their obligations under the REACH regulation.
These documents cover detailed guidance for a range of essential REACH processes as well as for
some specific scientific and/or technical methods that industry or authorities need to make use of
under REACH.
The guidance documents were drafted and discussed within the REACH Implementation Projects
(RIPs) led by the European Commission services, involving all stakeholders: Member States,
industry and non-governmental organisations. These guidance documents can be obtained via the
website of the European Chemicals Agency (http://echa.europa.eu/reach_en.asp). Further guidance
documents will be published on this website when they are finalised or updated
This document relates to the REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 18 December 2006 1
This is the first update of this guidance. The changes are tracked in Appendix 3.
1 Corrigendum to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006
concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European
Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives
91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC (OJ L 396, 30.12.2006); amended by Council Regulation (EC)
No 1354/2007 of 15 November 2007 adapting Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the
Council on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), by reason of the
accession of Bulgaria and Romania (OJ L 304, 22.11.2007, p. 1).
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
DOCUMENT HISTORY
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CONTENTS
PREFACE........................................................................................................................................................................ 3
CONTENTS .................................................................................................................................................................... 5
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
2.3 INQUIRY FOR NON PHASE-IN AND NON-PRE-REGISTERED PHASE IN SUBSTANCES ................ 58
2.3.1 For which substances an inquiry has to be submitted........................................................................... 58
2.3.2 When to inquire .................................................................................................................................... 58
2.3.3 Content of the inquiry dossier .............................................................................................................. 58
2.3.3.1 Identity of the inquirer............................................................................................................ 58
2.3.3.2 Substance identity .................................................................................................................. 59
2.3.3.3 List of information requirements and of new studies which may be required........................ 59
2.3.4 Preparation and submission of the inquiry dossier ............................................................................... 59
2.3.5 Summary of the inquiry process ........................................................................................................... 59
5 APPEAL PROCEDURES........................................................................................................................................ 66
6 FEES ........................................................................................................................................................................ 67
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APPENDIX 2 : ROLES AND DUTIES OF THE MAIN STAKEHOLDERS OF REACH. ...................................... 118
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TABLES
FIGURES
Figure 1 Steps within the registration process and link to the structure of this document .......................................... 12
Figure 2 Principles of the Chemical safety Assessment (CSA) .................................................................................. 14
Figure 3 Registration deadlines .................................................................................................................................. 48
Figure 4 Structure and format of the registration dossier prepared using IUCLID..................................................... 84
Figure 5 Documentation of endpoint study records and the endpoint summaries ...................................................... 91
Figure 6 Decision tree on when to document a study with a robust study summary or a study summary.................. 93
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1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION
The aim of this guidance is to assist industry in determining which tasks and obligations have to be
complied with to fulfil their registration requirements under REACH.
This document guides potential registrants to answer the following questions:
• Who has registration obligations?
• Which substances are within the scope of REACH in general and registration in particular?
• When to pre-register and when to submit an inquiry?
• What is the registration dossier?
• How to prepare the registration dossier and submit it to the Agency?
• When does a registration dossier have to be submitted to the Agency?
• What does it mean to submit jointly with other registrants of the same substance?
• What are registrants' obligations regarding data sharing?
• When and how to update the registration dossier?
• What is the registration fee?
• What are the duties of the Agency once the registration dossier is submitted?
The guidance is based on descriptions of obligations supplemented by explanations and practical
advice, which whenever possible are illustrated by examples. Throughout the text explanations of
the REACH process are offered, providing references to relevant guidance documents and other
useful tools.
All of the references to the relevant Articles, Annexes or legal text quotation from the REACH
Regulation are always indicated in italics (i.e. Article 23).
Whenever in the text of this document "the Agency" is mentioned it is meant The European
Chemicals Agency in Helsinki (ECHA).
Whenever in the text of this guidance "legal entity" is mentioned it is meant a natural or legal
person established in the EU and after ratification of REACH under the EEA Agreement, in the
European Economic Area (EEA).
Whenever in the text of this guidance an "Annex" is mentioned it is meant an Annex of the REACH
Regulation.
The first part of the document is addressed to all potential registrants with and without an expert
knowledge in the fields of chemicals and chemicals assessment. It explains what the registration
requirements are, who is responsible for them and how and when they must be fulfilled.
The second part of the document provides detailed guidance on how to prepare and update a
registration dossier.
Figure 1 guides the reader within this document, through different steps helping him identifying his
registration obligations.
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
A tool, called the Navigator, has been developed by the Commission services to help the users
identifying their obligations under REACH. It can be found on http://echa.europa.eu/reach_en.asp .
GUIDANCE ON
DETERMINE IF YOUR SUBSTANCE IS ISOLATED
See also
AN ISOLATED INTERMEDIATE INTERMEDIATES
yes
Figure 1 Steps within the registration process and link to the structure of this document
In REACH the responsibility for the management of the risks of substances lies with the natural or
legal persons that manufacture, import, place on the market or use these substances in the context of
their professional activities. Therefore, the registration provisions require manufacturers and
importers to generate data on the substances they manufacture or import, to use these data to assess
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
the risks related to these substances and to develop and recommend appropriate risk management
measures. To ensure that they actually meet these obligations, as well as for transparency reasons,
the registration provisions require them to submit a Registration Dossier containing information in
accordance with Article 10 to the Agency. Registered substances should be allowed to circulate on
the internal market (see Recitals 18 and 19).”
Unless the regulation indicates otherwise, registration obligations apply to substances manufactured
or imported in quantities of 1 tonne or more per year. Normally, the registration must be done
before a substance can be manufactured, imported or placed on the market. However, for most
substances that are already being manufactured or imported (so called “phase-in substances”, see
section 1.7.1.1 for the definition of phase-in substances) a special transitional regime applies which
allows their manufacture or import to continue (see section 1.7.2 – Deadlines for Phase-in
substances.).
REACH is based on the principle that industry should manufacture, import or use substances or
place them on the market in a way that, under reasonably foreseeable conditions, human health and
the environment are not adversely affected.
In order to ensure this, manufacturers and importers need to collect or generate data on the
substances and assess how risks to human health and the environment can be controlled by applying
suitable risk management measures. The responsibility for the management of these risks lies with
the natural or legal persons that manufacture, import, place on the market or use these substances in
the context of their professional activities.
The identification of measures required to manage risks is an integrated part of the safety
assessment concept. In general this is the result of an iterative process where the aim is to
demonstrate how risks identified for the manufacturing or use processes can be adequately
controlled by suitable risk management measures. This process includes an assessment of all
available relevant information on the hazardous properties of a substance and on the conditions
under which it is used. For all substances that are manufactured or imported in volumes greater than
10 tonnes per year, a more formal Chemical Safety Assessment needs to be carried out and
documented in a Chemical Safety Report.
The principles of the safety assessment concept are summarised in Figure 2. More detailed
explanations on the conditions under which the Chemical Safety Assessment needs to be carried out
as well as details on the contents of the individual steps are provided in Section II of this guidance
document.
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
Information/data
Revise assumed
RMM and/or • Classification
operational • PBT/vPvB assessment
Exposure Hazard
assessment assessment
Risk characterisation
No No
Are risks adequately controlled?
Yes
Final Exposure Scenarios (ESs) describing operational conditions and Risk Management
Measures (RMMs) that adequately control the risks, to be:
• Documented in the Chemical Safety Report (CSR) - as does the hazard assessment
• Communicated to downstream users via an Safety Data Sheet (SDS) annex
PBT – Persistent, Bioaccumulative, Toxic substances; vPvB – very Persistent and very Bioaccumulative substances
Figure 2 Principles of the Chemical safety Assessment (CSA)
REACH lays down obligations which apply to the manufacture, import, placing on the market and
use of substances on their own, in preparations or in articles. Before continuing to explain which
substances require registration it is important to have a clear understanding of these terms and how
preparations and articles are dealt with.
• Substance means a chemical element and its compounds. The term substance includes both
substances obtained by a chemical manufacturing process (for example formaldehyde or
methanol) and substances in their natural state. The term substance also includes its additives
and impurities where these are part of its manufacturing process, but excludes any solvent
which can be separated without affecting the stability of the substance or changing its
composition. Detailed guidance on substances and substance identity can be found in the
Guidance on substance identification where the distinction is made between the three following
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Subst. Main Upper Typical Lower Impurity Upper Typical Lower Substance
constituent content content content content content content identity
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
1 o-xylene 90 85 65 m-xylene 35 15 10 o-xylene
2 o-xylene 90 85 65 p-xylene 5 4 1 o-xylene
m-xylene 35 15 10
Example
Main constituent Upper Typical Lower Impurity Upper Typical Lower Substance
content content content content content content identity
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
aniline 90 75 65 phenanthrene 5 4 1 Reaction
mass of
naphthalene 35 20 10
aniline and
naphthalene
EC number EC Name
293-693-6 Soybean meal, protein extn. Residue
EC description
By-product, containing primarily carbohydrates, produced by an ethanolic extraction of
defatted soybean.
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
• Preparation means a mixture or solution composed of two or more substances (Article 3(2)).
Typical examples of preparations include paints, varnishes, inks. Preparations can contain
several substances. Preparations are not the same as multi-constituents substances. The
difference between preparation and multi-constituent substance is that a preparation is gained
by blending of two or more substances without any chemical reaction occurring, whereas a
multi-constituent substance is the result of a chemical reaction. REACH obligations apply
individually to each of those substances depending on whether the individual substances are
within the scope of REACH. Within the Globally Harmonised System for classification and
labelling (GHS), a preparation is named a "mixture" 2 .
• An article is the term for any object that has been given a specific shape, surface or design
which determines its function to a greater degree than does its chemical composition (e.g.
manufactured goods such as textiles, electronic chips, furniture, books, toys, kitchen
equipment). The same requirements apply to new and used imported articles. Detailed guidance
on articles and how they are dealt with under REACH can be found in the Guidance for
articles.
As stated above, only substances have to be registered, preparations or articles do not.
When contained in a preparation, each individual substance needs to be registered, either by the
substance manufacturer or the importer of the substance or preparation when reaching the threshold
of 1 tonne per year. On the other hand, substances that have been registered by the manufacturer or
the importer and that are being mixed into a preparation by a downstream user, do not need to be
registered again by the downstream user.
Individual substances in articles are also potentially subject to registration under certain
circumstances as detailed in the Guidance for articles.
This document therefore focuses on the registration of substances alone or in preparations, and to
substances in articles under certain conditions.
Aim: The aim of this chapter is to explain which actors in the supply chain have
registration obligations and responsibilities
Structure: The structure of this chapter is as follows:
2 Definition in GHS: “Mixture means a mixture or solution of two or more substances which do not react”
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The obligation to register a substance applies only to certain actors in the EU. Before explaining the
obligations of registrants under REACH, it is important to have a clear understanding of each of the
'actors in the supply chain' and their various roles and responsibilities.
One legal entity (see section 1.5.3.1) may have various roles depending on its activities, even for the
same substance (e.g manufacturer and importer or manufacturer and downstream user). Therefore,
it is very important that companies correctly identify their role or roles in the supply chain for each
substance they handle, because this will be a decisive factor in determining their registration
obligations.
Therefore, for each substance a company has to define its role or roles under REACH
Manufacturer: means any natural or legal person established within the Community who manufactures a
substance within the Community (Article 3(9)).
Manufacturing: means production or extraction of substances in the natural state (Article 3(8)). It is a case by
case decision to establish which steps of the synthesis of the end product lead to substances which need to
be registered (e.g. different purification or distillation steps).
Importer: means any natural or legal person established within the Community who is responsible for import
(Article 3(11)).
Import: means the physical introduction into the customs territory of the Community (Article 3(10)). According
to the legal definition of “placing on the market” (Article 3(12)), import is considered to be placing on the
market.
Downstream user: means any natural or legal person established within the Community, other than the
manufacturer or the importer, who uses a substance, either on its own or in a preparation, in the course of
his industrial or professional activities (Article 3(13)).
Use means any processing, formulation, consumption, storage, keeping, treatment, filling into containers,
transfer from one container to another, mixing, production of an article or any other utilisation (Article 3(24)).
An important point to bear in mind is that the terms used in REACH to describe the various actors
in the supply chain have very specific definitions and meanings which do not always correspond
with how they might be interpreted in other fora.
Example:
A company purchasing registered substances from within the EU and then formulating these
into preparations (e.g. paints) would be regarded as a downstream user. In layman's terms
this company might be considered to be a manufacturer of paints. However, within the
context of REACH the company would not be a manufacturer of a substance and so would
have no registration obligations for these substances.
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
the incorporation of REACH into the EEA Agreement, the terms ‘EU’ or ‘Community’ used in this
Guidance will also cover the EFTA-EEA States.
To this end, EFTA is preparing a proposal for an EEA Joint Committee Decision, incorporating the
Regulation and establishing the conditions for the EEA EFTA participation in the European
Chemicals Agency. EFTA is targeting to have the Regulation incorporated by 1 June 2008.
Therefore, an importer of a substance from an EEA country will in future not be required to register
the substance under REACH and will simply be regarded as a distributor or downstream user.
However, his supplier established in an EEA EFTA-State will have to register the substance as a
manufacturer under REACH and will be subject to the same obligations as all EU manufacturers.
Importers of a substance from Switzerland (a non-EU country belonging to EFTA but not to EEA)
will have the same obligations under REACH as any other importers.
Examples:
A formulator purchasing his substances in Germany or Iceland will be considered as a
Downstream User.
A formulator purchasing his substances in Switzerland or Japan will be considered as an
Importer.
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
• Any person, who is using substances which he has not manufactured or imported, is a
downstream user and has no obligation to register these substances.
• An importer of a substance, a preparation or an article, who is importing from a non EU
company who has appointed an “only representative” will be considered as a downstream
user and therefore does not need to register.
• A manufacturer or importer of a substance which is exempted from Title II of REACH has
no obligation to register that substance.
It should be noted that only a natural or legal person established in the European Union can be a
registrant and it is defined by the national laws of each EU Member State:
• A “natural person” is a concept applied in many legal systems to refer to human beings who are
capable and have the right to engage into contracts or commercial transactions. These are
usually people who have reached the age of legal maturity and are in full possession of their
rights (meaning that these rights have not been taken away from them, for example due to a
criminal conviction).
• A “legal person” is a similar concept, applied in many legal systems to refer to companies who
have been endowed with legal personality by the legal system applicable to them (the law of
the Member State where they are established) and therefore are capable of carrying rights and
obligations, independently of the people or other companies behind them (in the case of a
“société anonyme” or “limited company”, their shareholders). In other words, the company
usually has its own existence and its assets do not coincide with those of its owners.
One legal person can work on different sites. It can also open so-called “branch offices” (in
French “succursales”) which do not have separate legal personality from the main or head
office. In such a case, it is the head office that has the legal personality and that has to be
established in the EU to respect the provisions of REACH.
On the other hand, a legal person can also open “daughter companies” or “subsidiaries” in the
EU (in French “filiales”) in which it holds shares or another type of ownership. Such EU
daughters have a different legal personality and therefore qualify as a “legal person established
in the Community” for the purposes of REACH. They are to be considered as different
manufacturers and importers who each may be obliged to register for the respective quantities
they manufacture or import. Often operators do not use the terms “branch” and “office” in this
technical-legal sense and therefore it should be ascertained in detail whether the entity being
referred to has legal personality or not.
In REACH guidance documents as well as in IUCLID, the term ‘legal entity’ refers to such a
natural or legal person having rights and obligations under REACH.
Each legal entity established within the Community manufacturing or importing a substance is
required to submit its own registration.
In the case of a company group which is composed of several legal entities (e.g. a parent company
and its subsidiaries), each of those legal entities must submit its own registrations. However, they
need to submit parts of the dossier jointly, as outlined in the section on Joint submission of data by
multiple registrants (see section 1.8.4). On the other hand, if one legal entity has two or more
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
production plants which are not separate legal entities, then only one registration covering the
different sites needs to be submitted by the legal entity.
Example of situation:
When there is a change in the details of a legal entity such as a merger, spin-off, bankruptcy,
acquisition, business partially sold, change of address or contact details, then in accordance with the
provisions of Article 22, the registrant, without any undue delay, shall update the registration
dossier or submit a new registration dossier indicating a reference to the initial dossier (see example
below).
Example:
If two companies merge and as a result, there is only one legal entity, then the
company resulting from the merger needs to submit a new registration dossier . This
new registration dossier should make reference to the former registration dossiers of
the initial companies and should cover the information requirements resulting from
the addition of tonnage of the two previous companies. If the link to the initial
company can be made, then the new dossier is considered as an update of legal entity
for the fee calculation, but a new registration number will be issued to the new
company.
If a company splits and as a result there are two or more legal entities different from
the original one, all those new entities will have to submit a new registration dossier
making reference to the dossier of the original company. If the link to the initial
company can be made, then for one of the companies the new dossier is considered as
an update of legal entity for the fee calculation. The companies need to decide
between themselves who keeps the original registration. A new registration number
will be issued for all the new registration dossiers. The new companies will have to
submit their registration jointly and will be able to share all relevant information.
In the case of a merger where the individual legal entities have previously registered the same
substance, attention has to be paid that if the total tonnage of the manufactured/imported substance
after the merger reaches a higher tonnage band, then the registration dossier has to be updated
accordingly.
If a registrant has ceased the manufacture or import of the substance, or the production or import of
an article, he shall inform the Agency of this fact with the consequence that the registered volume in
his registration, if appropriate, shall be put to zero. He should keep the relevant information for 10
years after last manufacture and make it available on request. In the case when he restarts the
manufacture or import of the substance or he restarts the production or import of the article he has
to notify the Agency accordingly.
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
In case of import (see definition in section 1.5.1), the registration should be made by the legal entity
established in the EU who is responsible for the import. The responsibility for import depends on
many factors such as who orders, who pays, who is dealing with the customs formalities, but this
might not be conclusive on its own.
For example, in the case of a "sales agency" established in the EU but only acting as a kind of
facilitator, a letter-box transmitting an order from a buyer to a non-EU supplier (and being paid for
that service) but taking no responsibility whatsoever on the goods or the payment for the goods and
not having their ownership at any stage, then, the sales agency is not to be considered as the
"importer" for purposes of REACH. The sales agency is not responsible for the physical
introduction of the goods.
The “non-Community manufacturer” or supplier who is exporting a substance or preparation has no
responsibilities under REACH. The shipping company that is transporting the substance or
preparation normally has no obligations under REACH (according to Art. 2(1)(d) see section
1.6.3.6). Exceptions may occur under specific contractual arrangements if the shipping company is
established in the EU and if it is responsible for the introduction of the substance in the EU. As far
as applicable, the current practice for any other product related requirements should be followed to
assess such borderline cases. For more guidance, the National Customs Authorities should be
contacted.
In case an “only representative” has been appointed the only representative is responsible for the
registration (see next section).
Registration of substances imported into the EU on their own, in preparations or, in certain cases, in
articles will have to be submitted by the EU importers. This implies that each individual importer
needs to register the substance(s). Natural or legal persons that manufacture substances,
formulate preparations or produce articles outside the EU cannot by themselves register a
substance(s). However, although not responsible for any action under REACH, they can nominate
an only representative established within the EU to carry out the required registration of the
substance that is imported into the EU (Article 8(1)). This will relieve the EU importers within the
same supply chain from their registration obligations, as they will be regarded as downstream users
of the only representative.
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REACH does not distinguish between direct and indirect imports into the EU and therefore such
terms are not used in this guidance. It is essential that there is a clear identification of:
• who in the supply chain of a substance is the manufacturer, formulator or producer of an
article;
• who has appointed the only representative;
• which imports the OR has responsibility for.
As long as the above conditions are met, it does not matter what are the steps or supply chain
outside the EU between the manufacturer, formulator or producer of an article and the importer in
the EU.
It should, however, be pointed out that the use of the only representative facility creates the need for
exact documentation on which imported quantities of the substance are covered by the only
representative registration and which imported quantities are not. The only representative will need
this information to fulfil his obligation under Article 8(2) to keep available and up-to-date
information on quantities imported and customers sold to. Moreover, the importer will also need to
know whether a concrete quantity of the substance in a preparation is covered by the registration of
the only representative of the substance manufacturer, as he would otherwise be subject to a
registration requirement himself. This documentation will need to be presented to the enforcement
authorities upon request.
The registration dossier of the only representative should comprise all uses of the importers (now
downstream users) covered by the registration. The only representative shall keep an up-to-date list
of EU customers (importers) within the same supply chain of the “non-Community manufacturer”
and the tonnage covered for each of these customers, as well as information on the supply of the
latest update of the safety data sheet.
For phase-in substances the only representative will have to pre-register the substance in order to
benefit from the extended registration deadlines and will subsequently become participant of the
Substance Information Exchange Forum (SIEF) (see section 3.4 of the Guidance on data sharing).
Although the only representative is legally responsible for the registration, it can be anticipated that
in many cases, it will be the “non-Community manufacturer” that will provide him with all
necessary data for his registration dossier. If a ”non-Community manufacturer” decides to change
his only representative, the successor can submit an update of the earlier registration dossier
provided that the earlier only representative agrees to this change. This agreement needs to be
documented in the update. In order to prevent disputes, it is recommended to include clauses on the
eventuality of a later change of the only representative in the contracts between the “non-
Community manufacturer” and the only representative.
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
In the absence of an agreement by the earlier only representative, the successor will have to submit
a new registration dossier. In this latter instance, it is nevertheless possible that the former only
representative agrees to make available the data and dossier for reuse for the new only
representative to prepare his registration dossier.
The only representative can represent one or several “non-Community manufacturers”. If it acts on
behalf of several “non-Community manufacturers” it must submit a separate registration for each of
these substance manufacturers. The tonnage of the substance to be registered in each registration is
the total of the tonnages of the substance covered by the contractual agreements with the only
representative and the specific “non-Community manufacturer” represented by him. The
information requirement for the registration dossier shall be determined according to this tonnage.
By making separate submissions, the confidential business information of the “non-Community
manufacturer” can be preserved and equal treatment with EU manufacturers can be ensured (EU
manufacturers must submit separate registration dossiers for each legal entity) 3 .
Example: Role and registration obligations of different actors when an only representative is appointed
OUTSIDE EU EU
Importer 1
- registers 3 tonnes
Non-EU - is a downstream user of the only
5 tonnes Importer 1
Manufacturer 2 representative for the remaining 5
tonnes
DU of
Appoint as Only Representative
Only representative
- registers the tonnage exported by
Only representative the non-EU manufacturers 2 and 3
Appoint as Only Representative separately, i.e. he registers 8 tonnes
for non-EU manufacturer 2 and 8
tonnes for non-EU manufacturer 3.
DU of
3 tonnes DU of Importer 2
- does not need to register
Importer 2 - is a DU of the only representative
Non-EU
5 tonnes
Manufacturer 3
Importer 3
- does not need to register
3 tonnes
- is a DU of the only representative
Non-EU distributor 3 tonnes Importer 3
3 This section has been amended in May and September 2008. Please refer to page 110 et seq. for further information.
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
The actual registration can only be done by the manufacturer, importer or producer of an article or
only representative and cannot be done by any third party including Industry associations, unless
they act as the only representative for one or more non-EU companies.
However, Industry associations can provide very valuable assistance to registrants for the
preparation of registration dossiers, and can help co-ordinating the process. In addition they may
have valuable data on the substance that could be submitted to the SIEF (cf. Guidance on data
sharing). They could also be appointed to represent a registrant in discussions with other registrants
regarding preparation of the joint submission of hazard data and act as third party representative.
They can include non-EU enterprises as members, who, even though having no direct registration
obligations, can provide information and assistance through these associations.
Aim: This chapter provides an outline of which substances are subject to registration
requirements and a detailed explanation of the circumstances under which the
various exemptions from registration are applicable. Because the tonnage of
manufacture or import of each substance is critical in determining whether and how
to register, this chapter also outlines methods for calculating the volume to be
registered.
Structure: The structure of this chapter is as follows:
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
What to register?
Substances regarded
as registered
Overview of Section 1.6.5
Substances
registration scope exempted from
Substances
Section 1.6.1 registration
exempted from
REACH Section 1.6.4
Section 1.6.3
Food or Active substance for
Calculation of the volume Radio-active feedingsstuff use in biocides
to be registered substances Section 1.6.4.1 Section 1.6.5.1
Section 1.6.2 Section 1.6.3.1
Medicinal products Active substance for use in
Substances under Section 1.6.4.2 plant protection products
customs supervision Section 1.6.5.2
Calculation of the tonnage Section 1.6.3.2
in case of exemptions Annex IV substances Notified substances
Section 1.6.2.1 Substances used in the Section 1.6.4.3 (Directive 67/548/EEC)
interest of defence and Section 1.6.5.3
covered by National
Addition of the volumes exemptions Annex V substances
Section 1.6.2.2 Section 1.6.3.3 Section 1.6.4.4
Recycled or recovered
Calculations of yearly tonnage Waste substance already registered
for phase-in and non phase-in Section 1.6.3.4 Section 1.6.4.5
substances
Section 1.6.2.3 Re-imported substance
Non isolated intermediates Section 1.6.4.6
Section 1.6.3.5
Calculation of the amount of
substance in a preparation or in Polymer
articles Section 1.6.4.7
Section 1.6.2.4 Transported substances
Section 1.6.3.6 PPORD
Section 1.6.4.8
The basic definition of a substance is a very broad one which includes not only potentially
hazardous industrial chemicals, but every type of chemical substance manufactured in or imported
into the EU. It therefore includes substances which are already closely regulated by other legislation
such as medicines, biocides, pesticides, cosmetics or radioactive substances. Because of this, there
are some complete or partial exemptions from REACH requirements.
Registration is required for all substances manufactured or imported in quantities of 1 tonne or more
per year unless they are explicitly exempted from the scope of registration. This requirement applies
irrespective of whether the substances are classified as hazardous or not. A technical dossier shall
be prepared for all registrations and a chemical safety report (CSR) is required if the quantity
manufactured or imported reaches or exceeds the 10 tonnes per year threshold. For substances
manufactured or imported in quantities between 1 tonne per year and 10 tonnes per year some
specific exposure information will have to be provided as part of the information in the technical
dossier.
Completely excluded from REACH are radioactive substances; substances under customs
supervision and non-isolated intermediates. Waste is specifically exempted. A number of other
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substances are exempted from parts of the REACH provisions, where other equivalent legislation
applies (for example substances used in medicinal products). In addition, polymers are exempted
from registration, substances used for process and product oriented research and development only
require a notification, non-isolated intermediates are excluded from REACH (but a special regime
applies for the registration of isolated intermediates).
In addition, certain identified (categories of) substances and substances from certain identified
processes, which are considered as causing minimum risk to human health and the environment, are
exempt from registration. These substances are typically of natural origin and the list of exempted
substances includes, for example, corn oil and nitrogen. Annex IV and V describe these substances
and more guidance is given in sections 1.6.4.3 and 1.6.4.4. The Commission will carry out a review
of these two annexes by 1 June 2008 with a view to proposing amendments, if appropriate.
There are different rules to be applied on how to calculate a yearly tonnage for the registration
dossier for phase-in and non phase-in substances (see Article 3(30)). The paragraphs below describe
how to calculate the volume (tonnage value) to be used in order to decide whether a registration
must be submitted for a substance (the threshold being 1 tonne per year), what are the information
requirements that have to be fulfilled (in accordance with the different annexes) as well as, in the
case of phase-in substances, to identify when the registration of the substance is due.
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Example 2: Tonnage to consider for the registration dossier in case of PPORD use
If a company manufactures 11 t/a of a substance, of which 2.0 t/a are for PPORD, the
registration obligation is defined by the 9.0 t/a, i.e. the information requirements in
Annex VII apply.
When a manufacturer or importer of a substance on its own or in one or more preparations also
imports a substance in articles and that substance in the article is intended to be released under
normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use (see the Guidance for articles), there is no need
to aggregate the tonnages between the tonnage for the substance on its own or in (a) preparation(s)
on the one hand and the tonnage for the substance in articles with an intended release on the other
hand for the purpose of registration. In case the tonnage of the substance in the imported articles is
below one tonne per year, there is no need to make a registration for this tonnage nor to take it into
account in the registration for the substance on its own or in (a) preparation(s). If the tonnage of the
substance in the imported articles is above one tonne per year the registrant is not obliged to submit
another registration dossier for the substance in the article on the condition that the registration of
the substance on its own and in preparations covers the use of that substance in the article.
Additional information is available in the guidance of substances in articles.
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
substance in each preparation (calculated using the amount of the substance present in these
preparations) will have to be added.
In the case that the same registrant manufactures and/or imports the same substance at different
sites which belong to the same legal entity, then the tonnage of the substance to be registered is the
total tonnage of the substance manufactured and/or imported at the different sites, because the sites
are not separate legal entities.
Moreover, if a substance is imported in several articles from which it is intended to be released, the
potential registrant needs to sum up all tonnages of the substance present in those articles. For this
purpose, he needs to count only those articles from which the substance is intended to be released.
Whenever a substance is intended to be released from an article, the whole amount present in that
article needs to be counted and not only the amount intended to be released.
Example:
If a company X imports three articles A, B, and C with 60 tonnes of the substance present in
each but:
- in article A, the substance is not intended to be released
- in article B, the substance is intended to be released and 40 out of 60 tonnes are released
under normal conditions
- in article C, the substance is intended to be released and 10 out of 60 tonnes are released
under normal conditions
the company X will need to register the total tonnage of the substance in article B and C: 120
tonnes, i.e. in the 100-1000 tonnes band.
1.6.2.3 Calculations of yearly tonnage for phase-in and non phase-in substances
Calculation of the tonnage for the registration of phase in-substances that have been pre-registered
The definition of phase-in substance can be found in section 1.7.1.1.
In the case of a phase-in substance that has been imported or manufactured for at least three
consecutive years, the quantities “per year” shall be calculated on the basis of the average tonnage
manufactured or imported in the three preceding calendar years (see Article 3(30)). If the substance
has not been manufactured or imported for 3 consecutive years then the calendar year tonnage
should be used (see example 4). This provision has been put in place to avoid situations where a
sudden increase in demand would lead to the impossibility to comply with the registration
obligations.
This tonnage manufactured or imported “per year” is to be used for the identification of the
information requirements for registration. The highest tonnage “per year” manufactured or imported
after 1 June 2007 determines the deadline for registration (as stated in Article 23). As a
consequence, the tonnage reported in the registration dossier does not necessarily correspond to the
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
tonnage range for which registration is foreseen, for example if there is an important decrease of the
manufactured or imported volume. To know more about registration deadlines for phase in
substance see section 1.7.2.
Example 1:
If a company, based on its manufacture previsions, has determined that it should register a
phase-in substance by the 1st June 2013 (as its manufacture volume is expected to be in the
100-1000 tonnes range).
Each year the company needs to calculate its yearly tonnage as the average over the three
preceding years, e.g. in 2007 it is the average over 2004-2006.
The deadline for registration according to Article 23 is based on the highest tonnage
calculated starting in 2007.
In case this tonnage reaches 1000 tonnes, the registration is then due before the 1st
December 2010. If this happens in 2011 or 2012 the registration is due without delay. As the
yearly tonnage is based on a three year average it should be easier for companies to
anticipate any increase of yearly tonnage.
If the tonnage stays in the 100-1000t tonnage band, then the registration should be submitted
by the first of June 2013 and the tonnage for 2013 (calculated as the average over 2010-
2012) has to be reported in the registration dossier.
Example 2:
If the volume manufactured by Company Z is 120 tonnes (calculated as 3 years average) in
2009 and decreases to less than 100 tonnes after that, Company Z will still have to register
ultimately by 31 May 2013, as the substance has been manufactured at least once at 100
tonnes or more after 1st June 2007. The tonnage to take into account in the registration
dossier will be the 2013 tonnage calculated as the average over 2010-2012.
Example 3:
The volume manufactured by Company V is 600 tonnes in 2007, 900 tonnes in 2008, 1400
tonnes in 2009 and 2000 tonnes in 2010. The "3 year-average" tonnage in 2010 is 966
tonnes/year, but the "3 year-average" tonnage in 2011 is 1433 tonnes/year. In this case
company V will have to register the substance as soon as possible in 2011 as the registration
deadline for the substances on 1000 tonnes or more per year has passed on 30 November
2010.
Example 4:
The volume manufactured by Company V is 900 tonnes in 2007, 0 tonnes in 2008, 1000
tonnes in 2009. As the substance has not been manufactured during three consecutive years
then the calendar year tonnage should be used. In this case the 1000 tonnes threshold has
been reached in 2010, meaning that a registration is due on 30 November 2010 at the latest
and the information requirement should be based on a 1000 tonne manufacture.
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
obtained from the safety datasheet of the preparation. When only a range of concentrations of a
substance in a preparation is available, then the maximum tonnage of the substance is calculated
using the highest possible content of that substance in the preparation. Without more precise
information on the composition, this tonnage should be used for the purpose of registration.
Radio-active substances are substances that contain one or more radionuclides of which the activity
or concentration cannot be disregarded as far as radiation protection is concerned. In other words,
they are substances which give off such a degree of radiation that there is a need to protect people
and the environment against that radiation.
Radio-active substances were already exempted from notification under Directive 67/548/EEC on
classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances, and the REACH Regulation
exempts them from its application altogether. The reason for this exemption is that there is specific
legislation applicable to them, so that there is no need to apply the REACH Regulation in addition.
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• the substances do not undergo any form of treatment or processing during their stay in the EU.
For that purpose a free zone or a free warehouse on the EU territory is regarded as being part of
the EU. 4
In the case of doubt, it is recommended to contact the customs authorities, who can provide more
detailed clarification on the possible customs regimes established by Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92
on the community customs code which may be applied to substances merely passing through the
EU.
1.6.3.3 Substances used in the interest of defence and covered by National exemptions
The REACH Regulation allows individual Member States to exempt certain substances (on their
own, in a preparation or in an article) from the application of REACH, in the interests of defence.
It should be noted that this exemption will only apply once a Member State has taken a formal
measure, in accordance with its national legal system, to exempt certain specific substances from
REACH. The exemption will, naturally, only apply within the territory of the Member State having
fixed the exemption.
At the time of writing this guidance, no Member States had fixed an exemption in the interests of
defence. It can be expected that Member States who decide on such an exemption will inform their
suppliers concerned; however, if in doubt, manufacturers, importers and producers of preparations
or articles which are used by Member State military forces or authorities in a defence context, are
advised to contact those forces or authorities to check if an exemption was granted which may cover
their substance, preparation or article.
1.6.3.4 Waste
The definition of waste as defined in the Waste Framework Directive 2006/12/EC also applies to
REACH. Waste is any substance or object which the holder discards, or intends or is required to
discard. This may be waste from households (e.g. newspapers or clothes, food, cans or bottles) or
from professionals or industry (e.g. tires, slag, window frames that are discarded).
The REACH Regulation does not exempt waste from its provisions, but clarifies that waste is not a
substance, a preparation or an article within the meaning of REACH. This is because when the
holder discards, intends to or is required to discard something, it loses its status as a substance,
preparation or article. Note that when a Chemical Safety Assessment is required for a
(manufactured or imported) substance, this must include the whole lifecycle of the substance
including the waste stage (cf. Annex I, 0.7 and 5.1.1). If necessary to manage risks from chemical
substances, recommended waste management measures have to be communicated through the
supply chain via SDSs (heading 13). However, waste treatment is not a downstream use under
REACH and waste treatment operators will not receive SDSs on how to handle the substance
during the waste phase. As long as residues from waste treatment operations are waste, i.e. that they
4 This sentence has been amended in April 2008. Please refer to page 110 et seq. for further information.
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are disposed of (e.g., landfilled), they do not fall under REACH. Residues which are recovered as
any other substances or preparations fall under REACH.
It is important to note that once waste is recovered and in this recovery process another substance,
preparation or article is produced, the REACH rules will in principle apply again, as they would to
any other substance, preparation or article manufactured, produced or imported in the EU. In
specific cases, where a recovered substance is the same as a substance which has already been
registered, an exemption from the registration obligation may apply. More guidance on recovery is
available in section 1.6.4.5.
The REACH Regulation exempts from its provisions the carriage of dangerous substances and
dangerous substances in dangerous preparations by rail, road, inland waterway, sea or air. Please
note that for all activities (manufacture, import, use) related to the concerned substances other than
the transport, the REACH requirements apply (unless covered by another exemption).
EU transport legislation (for example, Council Directive 94/55/EC of 21 November 1994 on the
approximation of the laws of the Member States with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by
road, and relevant amendments) already regulates the safety conditions of transport of dangerous
substances by various means of transport and thus such transport is exempted from the provisions of
the REACH Regulation.
Legal reference: Article 2 (1) (d)
The Regulation exempts certain substances that are adequately regulated under other legislation,
like medicinal products, or that generally present such low risks as not to require registration, like
water, oxygen, certain noble gases, and specific types of cellulose pulp. In other cases substances
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occurring in nature such as minerals, ores and ore concentrates, cement clinker etc are not required
to be registered as long as they are not chemically modified. Although polymers are exempted as
well from the requirement to register, since they usually are not very hazardous, it is required to
register monomer substances contained in the final polymer in ≥ 2% as monomer units, which have
not already been registered and provided that those monomers make up ≥ 1 tonne/year.
The substances exempted from registration are described in detail below.
When a substance is used in food for humans or feedingstuffs for animals in accordance with the
Food Safety Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, the substance does not have to be registered.
The Food Safety Regulation already requires that food for humans cannot be placed on the market
unless it is safe, i.e. not injurious to human health and fit for human consumption. Similarly, feed
for animals is not to be placed on the market or fed to food-producing animals unless it is safe, i.e.
not having an adverse effect on human or animal health and not making the food derived from food-
producing animals unsafe for humans. Moreover, for food additives, food flavourings, feedingstuffs
additives and animal nutrition, specific pieces of Community legislation already create a system for
authorisation of substances for those particular uses. Therefore, registration under REACH would
have little added value.
Accordingly, it is in the interest of manufacturers and importers of substances which may be put to
food or feedingstuffs related uses to be aware if their own legal entity or their clients actually use
the substance in food or feedingstuffs in accordance with the Food Safety Regulation, since in that
case they will not have to register this use or obtain authorisations, at least for the quantities of the
substance which are used in this way. Thus, if a downstream user makes such a use known to his
supplier in accordance with Article 37(2), he should be advised to consult the Food Safety
Regulation.
Note however that quantities of the same substance may be used for other uses than food and
feedingstuffs, so those quantities are not exempted. Only the quantities of the substance used in
food and feedingstuffs are exempted from the registration obligation under REACH.
Example:
A manufacturer manufactures 100 tonnes of sulphuric acid in year X. 50 tonnes are used in
foodstuffs in accordance with the Food Safety Regulation, 50 tonnes are used for the
formulation of a non-food preparation. The 50 tonnes used for the formulation of the non-food
preparation will be subject to the registration provisions of the REACH Regulation and can, if
their properties warrant so, be made subject to authorisation, while the 50 tonnes used in
foodstuffs are exempted from registration, evaluation and authorisation.
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• or Directive 2001/83/EC on the Community code for medicinal products for human use
the substance does not have to be registered under the REACH Regulation for that use.
Accordingly, it is important for manufacturers and importers of substances which may be put to
pharmaceutical related uses to be aware if their own legal entity or their clients actually use the
substance in medicinal products covered by the pharmaceuticals legislation referred to above since
in that case they will not have to register or obtain authorisations under REACH to the extent the
substance is used for such medicinal products.
The exemption does not distinguish between active or non-active ingredients as it applies to any
substance “used in medicinal products”. Excipients used in medicinal products are therefore also
exempted from registration.
Note, however, that quantities of the same substance may be used for other uses than
pharmaceuticals, so those quantities are not exempted. Only the quantities of the substance used in
medicinal products are exempted from the registration obligation and REACH authorisation.
Example:
A manufacturer manufactures 100 tonnes of salicylic acid in year X. 50 tonnes are used in
medicinal products within the scope of Directive 2001/83/EC on the Community code relating
to medicinal products for human use, 50 tonnes are used for the formulation of a non-
medicinal preparation. The 50 tonnes used for the formulation of the non-medicinal
preparation will be subject to the registration provisions and can, if their properties warrant so,
be made subject to authorisation, while the 50 tonnes used in medicinal products are
exempted from registration, evaluation and authorisation.
Annex IV currently lists 68 substances for which it is understood that sufficient information is
available to consider them as causing minimum risk to human health and the environment. These
substances are typically of natural origin and the list of exempted substances includes, for example,
corn oil and nitrogen (N2). Substances included in Annex IV are exempted from the registration
provisions.
The list is largely based on the exemptions from Regulation (EC) No 793/93 on risk evaluation of
existing substances, but more substances were added. The registration exemption applies to the
substance as such, not to a particular use.
The Commission is required, by 1 June 2008, to review this Annex and, if appropriate, propose
amendments to it. As this provision may lead to the inclusion of additional substances into Annex
IV or the exclusion of substances from it, manufacturers and importers are advised to regularly
check the list of substances in Annex IV. In the Navigator, a search engine has been implemented to
help the user check whether his substance is listed in Annex IV.
Annex V currently lists nine broad categories of substances for which registration is deemed
inappropriate or unnecessary. They are exempted from the registration provisions, but not
necessarily from authorisation or restrictions. For the full list see below.
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The registration exemption applies to the substances as such, provided however that they meet the
conditions for the exemption which are given in the particular category of Annex V. For example,
for hydrates or hydrated ions, copper (II) sulphate pentahydrate formed by association of copper (II)
sulphate with water, will not require registration by its manufacturer provided the copper (II)
sulphate was registered (or exempted from registration).
The Commission is required, by 1 June 2008, to review this Annex and, if appropriate, propose
amendments to the Annex. As this provision may lead to the inclusion of additional categories or
substances into Annex V or the exclusion of categories from it, manufacturers and importers are
advised to regularly check the list.
ANNEX V
EXEMPTIONS FROM THE OBLIGATION TO REGISTER
IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 2(7)(b)
1. Substances which result from a chemical reaction that occurs incidental to exposure of
another substance or article to environmental factors such as air, moisture, microbial
organisms or sunlight.
2. Substances which result from a chemical reaction that occurs incidental to storage of
another substance, preparation or article.
3. Substances which result from a chemical reaction occurring upon end use of other
substances, preparations or articles and which are not themselves manufactured,
imported or placed on the market.
4. Substances which are not themselves manufactured, imported or placed on the market
and which result from a chemical reaction that occurs when:
(a) a stabiliser, colorant, flavouring agent, antioxidant, filler, solvent, carrier, surfactant,
plasticiser, corrosion inhibitor, antifoamer or defoamer, dispersant, precipitation
inhibitor, desiccant, binder, emulsifier, de-emulsifier, dewatering agent, agglomerating
agent, adhesion promoter, flow modifier, pH neutraliser, sequesterant, coagulant,
flocculant, fire retardant, lubricant, chelating agent, or quality control reagent functions
as intended; or
7. The following substances which occur in nature, if they are not chemically modified.
Minerals, ores, ore concentrates, cement clinker, natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas,
natural gas condensate, process gases and components thereof, crude oil, coal, coke.
8. Substances occurring in nature other than those listed under paragraph 7, if they are not
chemically modified, unless they meet the criteria for classification as dangerous
according to Directive 67/548/EEC.
9. Basic elemental substances for which hazards and risks are already well known:
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
The REACH Regulation exempts from registration substances which are recovered in the
Community, provided a number of conditions are met. Recycling is a form of recovery and
therefore covered by this exemption.
‘Recovery’ is currently defined in EU law as any of the recovery operations provided in Annex IIB
of the Waste Framework Directive 2006/12/EC. This list covers the following operations:
R1 Use principally as a fuel or other means to generate energy
R2 Solvent reclamation/regeneration
R3 Recycling/reclamation of organic substances which are not used as solvents (including
composting and other biological transformation processes)
R4 Recycling/reclamation of metals and metal compounds
R5 Recycling/reclamation of other inorganic materials
R6 Regeneration of acids or bases
R7 Recovery of components used for pollution abatement
R8 Recovery of components from catalysts
R9 Oil re-refining or other reuses of oil
R10 Land treatment resulting in benefit to agriculture or ecological improvement
R11 Use of wastes obtained from any of the operations numbered R1 to R10
R12 Exchange of wastes for submission to any of the operations numbered R1 to R11
R13 Storage of wastes pending any of the operations numbered R1 to R12 (excluding temporary
storage, pending collection, on the site where it is produced)
Criteria for defining when waste is no longer considered to be waste (so-called End of Waste
criteria) after recycling are currently under development in relation to the ongoing revision of the
Waste Framework Directive. Such a decision shall be taken within the legislative framework of the
Waste Framework Directive. A recovered material will only fall within the scope of the REACH
Regulation when a decision has been taken, in accordance with the provisions of the Waste
Framework Directive, that the waste it is originated from meets the End of Waste criteria and as
such is no longer waste.
The REACH Regulation sets the following conditions which have to be respected in order to benefit
from the exemption from registration:
(1) The recovered substance must have been registered. This means that if, for some reason, the
substance has not been registered at manufacturing or import stage, the recovered substance
has to be registered following the recovery operation before being put to a new use.
The legal entity performing the recovery should check whether a registration exemption
applies to the recovered substance. If this is the case, then that exemption can of course be
invoked.
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(2) The substance already registered must be the same, i.e. have the same chemical identity and
properties, as the substance being recovered. For example, if the substance itself was
modified in the recovery and the modified substance has not been registered, then the
recovered substance has to be registered.
It should be noted that the sameness of the substance must be assessed according to the
Guidance on substance identification.
(3) The legal entity that did the recovery must ensure that information on the registered
substance is available to it, and that information must comply with the rules on information
provision in the supply chain.
This means that the legal entity who undertook the recovery must have obtained one of the
following:
• a safety data sheet, as required by Article 31 (1) or (3), on the registered substance,
• other information sufficient to enable users to take protection measures, as required by
Article 31 (4), for the registered substance, or
• the registration number, if available, the status of the substance under the authorisation
part of REACH, details of any applicable restrictions under REACH and information
necessary to allow appropriate risk management measures to be identified and applied,
as required in accordance with Article 32 (1).
Companies undertaking recovery operations and wishing to avail themselves from this exemption
are advised to ensure as much as possible that the information on the registered substance which
was put together to comply with the REACH Regulation, is available to them as well, as otherwise
they may have to register the recovered substance.
It is worth noting that this exemption does not require that the substance has been registered by an
actor in the same supply chain. Therefore, it is sufficient that a registration was filed for the
substance, either by a registrant in the same supply chain or by a registrant in another supply chain.
Note that if the recycled substance is a phase-in substance, it is recommended that the recycler pre-
registers that substance in order to benefit from the transitional provisions laid down in Article 23
and eventually be later on exempted from the registration requirements if another pre-registrant
registers the substance.
Legal reference: Article 2 (7) (d)
The registration obligation of Article 6 applies to manufacturers and importers of a substance, on its
own or included in a preparation. However, in cases where a substance is first manufactured in the
EU, then exported – for example, to be formulated into a preparation – and then brought back into
the EU again – for example, to be marketed or for further processing – this could lead to a double
registration obligation if it happens within the same supply chain: first at the stage of original
manufacture, by the original manufacturer, and a second time at the stage of import back into the
Community, by a re-importer down in the same supply chain (who may or may not be the original
manufacturer). Therefore, substances which have been registered, exported and then re-imported are
exempted from registration and evaluation under certain conditions.
The following conditions must be fulfilled to benefit from this exemption:
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
(1) The substance must have been registered before it was exported from the Community. This
means that if, for some reason, the substance was not registered at the manufacturing stage,
the substance has to be registered upon re-import.
(2) The substance already registered and exported must be the same, i.e. have the same
chemical identity and properties, as the substance being re-imported, on its own or in a
preparation. For example, if the exported substance itself was modified outside the EU and
therefore it is not the same substance which is now being re-imported, the re-imported
substance has to be registered.
Again, the reason is clear: if the substance does not have the same chemical identity, it has
not yet been registered (the registration information will be different), and therefore there
will not be duplication of registrations. Note that the re-importer has to be able to prove that
the substance is still the same. For more details on substance identification see the Guidance
on substance identification.
(3) The substance must not only be the same, i.e. have the same chemical identity and
properties, but it must actually be the same batches of the substance which are exported
from and re-imported back to the Community (whether or not processed). This is meant by
the requirement that the re-importer is “in the same supply chain”.
Example (1):
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
Example (2):
(4) The re-importer must have been provided with information on the exported substance, and that
information must comply with the rules of REACH on information provision in the supply
chain.
This means that the re-importer must have been supplied with one of the following:
• a safety data sheet, as required by Article 31 (1) or (3),
• other information sufficient to enable users to take protection measures, as required by
Article 31 (4), or
• the registration number, if available, the status of the substance under the authorisation part
of REACH, details of any applicable restrictions under REACH and information necessary
to allow appropriate risk management measures to be identified and applied, as required in
accordance with Article 32 (1).
Note that the re-importer has to be able to prove that he was provided with one of these pieces
of information.
If the re-importer can avail himself of the exemption, he will be considered as a downstream user.
Therefore, he is advised to check what downstream user obligations are applicable to him.
Note that the re-import exemption is not available if the substance is being re-imported in articles.
Legal reference: Article 2 (7) (c)
1.6.4.7 Polymer
Owing to the especially extensive number of different polymer substances on the market, and since
polymer molecules are generally regarded as representing a low concern in relation to their high
molecular weight, this group of substances is exempted from registration. Manufacturers and
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
importers of polymers may nevertheless be required to proceed with the registration of the
monomers or other substances used for the manufacture of the polymers. Specific guidance is
available for polymers. See i.e. Guidance for polymers.
1.6.4.8 Substances use for purpose of product and process oriented research and
development (PPORD)
To support industry’s capacity for innovation, one of the objectives of REACH is to promote
research and development. This results in a number of exemptions from the obligations under
REACH.
Scientific research and development under REACH means any scientific experimentation, analysis
or chemical research carried out under controlled conditions in a volume below 1 tonne per year
(Article 3 (23)). A substance being used solely for such research and development is exempted from
registration.
Product and process orientated research and development: means any scientific development
related to product development or the further development of a substance, on its own, in
preparations or in articles in the course of which pilot plant or production trials are used to
develop the production process and/or to test the fields of application of the substance (Article 3
(22)).
Substances used for product and process orientated research and development (PPORD) will
receive exemption from registration if they are notified to the Agency. The notifier must pay a fee
to the Agency when applying for this.
This exemption can be for up to 5 years and applies only to the quantity of substance being used for
PPORD by the manufacturer or importer himself or in cooperation with a limited number of listed
customers. The Agency may extend the exemption period for up to a further 5 years (or 10 years in
the case of medicinal products or substances not put on the market) upon request, as long as this can
be justified by the programme of research and development presented by the applicant.
The Agency will check the completeness of the information supplied by the notifier.
The Agency could decide to impose conditions to ensure that the substance will be handled only by
staff of listed customers in reasonably controlled conditions and will not be made available to the
general public and that remaining quantities will be re-collected for disposal after the exemption
period.
For any detailed or specific issues on research and development see Guidance for PPORD.
Certain substances or uses of substances are regarded as being registered, and so no registration will
be required for these substances for these uses.
This applies to:
• active substances in biocidal products as described below,
• active substances in plant protection products as described below ,
• substances already notified in accordance with Directive 67/548/EEC (NONS).
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
Active substances for use in biocidal products are regarded as registered as biocidal active
substances and biocidal products and are covered by Directive 98/8/EC (Biocidal Products
Directive). To benefit from the exemption, several conditions have to be fulfilled:
(1) The substance must be an active substance for use in a biocidal product.
An active substance in the context of biocides is a substance or micro-organism including a virus or
a fungus having general or specific action on or against harmful organisms. A biocidal product may
be composed of only one active substance, without co-formulants, or it may be a preparation
including one or more active substances.
(2) The substance must be included in one of the following:
• Annex I to Directive 98/8/EC – this is the list of active substances which are authorised for use
in biocidal products; it is regularly updated and manufacturers and importers are advised to
check the latest version.
• Annex IA to Directive 98/8/EC – this is the list of active substances which are authorised for
use in low-risk biocidal products; it is regularly updated and manufacturers and importers are
advised to check the latest version.
• Annex IB to Directive 98/8/EC – this is the list of basic substances which are authorised for use
as biocidal products; it is regularly updated and manufacturers and importers are advised to
check the latest version. Basic substances are substances which only have a minor use as a
biocide and which are not directly marketed for that biocidal use.
• Regulation (EC) No 2032/2003 – this regulation lists active substances which were already on
the market on 14 May 2000 and for which information was submitted with a view to including
them in the Commission’s review programme of active substances for use in biocidal products.
However, once a decision is taken for one of the active substances on the lists of Regulation
(EC) No 2032/2003 not to include it into Annex I, IA or IB, the active substance loses the
exemption and must be registered, since its manufacturer will not have submitted the required
information to allow full assessment under Directive 98/8/EC. Decisions not to include active
substances, which are on the lists of Regulation (EC) 2032/2003, into Annex I, IA or IB of
Directive 98/8/EC will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and may
take the form of a Commission Decision or a Commission Regulation.
Note however that only the quantities of the active substance for use in biocidal products are
exempted from the registration obligation. If they are used in another non-biocidal product, they are
not exempted. It means that in the case when a manufacturer who manufactures only for the
purpose of biocides puts the same substance on the market but for other purposes (not exempted
from registration) he has to prepare a full registration dossier, including all relevant information
including, if fulfilling conditions, the Chemical Safety Report (CSR).
Note that only active substances can qualify for the exemption and that other substances used for
producing the biocidal product are not exempted from registration.
Example:
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
used as surfactants in cleaning products. The latter use is within the scope of REACH and
has to be registered; the former use is exempted from registration.
The Agency has been charged with including the information submitted in the framework of
Directive 98/8/EC, which is equivalent to registration dossier data, into its databases. This is to
ensure that this data can be valorised where appropriate.
Legal references: Article 15 (2), Article 16, Article 56 (4) (b)
Active substances and co-formulants for use in plant protection products (pesticides) are regarded
as registered as the plant protection products and their active ingredients and co-formulants are
covered by Directive 91/414/EEC (Directive on plant protection products) and in principle undergo
a thorough assessment, on the basis of already submitted substantial information, before they can be
placed on the market. To benefit from the exemption, several conditions have to be fulfilled:
(1) The substance must be either an active substance or a co-formulant for use in a plant protection
product.
An active substance in the context of plant protection products is a substance or micro-organism,
including a virus, having general or specific action against harmful organisms or on plants, parts of
plants or plant products. A plant protection product may be composed of only one active substance,
without co-formulants, or it may be a preparation including one or more active substances.
A co-formulant in the context of plant protection products is a non-active substance in a plant
protection product which is a preparation.
(2) The substance must be included in one of the following:
• Annex I to Directive 91/414 – this is the list of active substances which are authorised for use
in plant protection products; it is regularly updated and manufacturers and importers are
advised to check the latest version.
• Regulation (EEC) No 3600/92 – this regulation lists 90 active substances which were already
on the market on 26 July 1993 and which were the first ones to be identified for assessment
with a view to being authorised and included into Annex I to Directive 91/414/EEC.
• Regulation (EC) No 703/2001 – this regulation lists a further 63 active substances which were
already on the market on 26 July 1993 and for which their producers wished to secure inclusion
into Annex I of Directive 91/414/EEC and which were thus identified for assessment.
• Regulation (EC) No 1490/2002 - this regulation lists a further 161 active substances which
were already on the market on 26 July 1993 and for which their producers wished to secure
inclusion into Annex I of Directive 91/414/EEC and which were thus identified for assessment.
• Decision 2003/565/EC – this decision lists further active substances and micro-organisms
already on the market on 26 July 1993 for which the assessment period was extended.
• a Commission decision on the completeness of the dossier submitted pursuant to Article 6 (3)
of Directive 91/414/EEC – such decisions are taken in respect of active substances which were
not yet on the market on 26 July 1993 but for which an application for inclusion into Annex I
of Directive 91/414/EEC was submitted and deemed admissible. They concern the
admissibility of applications filed by individual legal entities and are therefore not published in
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
the Official Journal, but notified to the legal entities concerned. Accordingly, relevant operators
will be aware of decisions of interest to them.
Note however that quantities of the same active substance may be used for other uses than plant
protection products, so those quantities are not exempted. Only the quantities of the active
substance for use in plant protection products are exempted from the registration obligation. If they
are used in another product, they are not exempted. It means that in the case when a manufacturer
who manufactures only for the purpose of plant protection products puts the same substance on the
market but for other purposes (not exempted from registration) he has to prepare a full registration
dossier, including all relevant information including, if fulfilling conditions, the Chemical Safety
Report (CSR).
Note that since only active substances can meet condition (2) above, only active substances can
qualify for the exemption and that other substances used for producing the plant protection
product are not exempted from registration.
Example:
A manufacturer manufactured 100 tonnes of copper sulphate in year X. 50 tonnes are used
as active substances in pesticides and the active substance is included in one of the acts
mentioned under (2) above, the other 50 tonnes are used for another use. The latter use is
within the scope of REACH and has to be registered; the former use is exempted from
registration.
The Agency has been charged with including the information submitted in the framework of
Directive 91/414/EEC, which is equivalent to registration dossier data, into its databases. This is to
ensure that this data can be valorised where appropriate.
Legal references: Article 15 (1), Article 16, Article 56 (4) (a)
Directive 67/548/EEC introduced a notification requirement for so-called new substances, which
were substances not appearing on the European Inventory of Existing Commercial Chemical
Substances (EINECS). The EINECS list contains, in principle, all substances on the Community
market on 18 September 1981.
Notifications made in accordance with Directive 67/548/EEC contain a lot of the technical dossier
information which the REACH Regulation aims to have assembled by registrants through the
registration requirement. This is the reason why such notifications are regarded as registrations. The
Agency is instructed to assign registration numbers to notifications considered as registrations. It
must do so by 1 December 2008.
Manufacturer or importers of polymers which were notified according to Directive 67/548/EEC are
advised to read the (Guidance for polymers).
Legal entities are therefore advised to check whether they submitted a notification for their
substance to a Member State competent authority in accordance with the national legislation
implementing Directive 67/548/EEC. If this is the case, they have an official notification number on
file which was allocated by the Member State competent authority. The substance will in that case
also appear on the European List of Notified Chemical Substances (ELINCS).
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
Notification under Directive 67/548/EC was only required if a substance was placed on the EU
market or imported into the EU. If a substance was merely manufactured in the EU, but not placed
on the market, a notification would not have been made. These substances will have to be registered
under REACH. Moreover in case when the manufacture/import volume of the notified substance
reaches the next tonnage threshold as defined in Article 12, an update of the registration for that
substance will have to be submitted to the Agency. For more details on registration update go to
section 4 and 9 of this Guidance Document.
Please note that a notification under Directive 67/548/EC is nominal so that only the notifier
benefits from being considered registered; any other parties manufacturing or importing the
substance but who have not notified it, must register, unless there is another exemption that
applies to them.
Legal reference: Article 24
Aim: The aim of this chapter is to inform potential registrants when they should submit
their registrations to the ECHA. It explains in detail what are phase-in and not phase-
in substances and what the deadlines for registration are.
Structure: The structure of this chapter is as follows:
The REACH Regulation creates a special transition regime for substances which, under certain
conditions, were already being manufactured or placed on the market before the entry into force of
the REACH Regulation on 1st June 2007 and were not notified according to Directive 67/548/EEC.
For these substances, the registration can be submitted within deadlines foreseen by the REACH
Regulation and described in section 1.7.2.
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
Such substances are called “phase-in substances”, because they are being subjected to the
registration system in different phases over time, rather than immediately in one go.
A precondition is that the phase-in substance is being pre-registered between the 1st June 2008
and the 1st December 2008.
Phase-in substances are substances which fall under at least one of the following criteria:
• The substance is listed in the European Inventory of Existing Commercial Chemical Substances
(EINECS) (Article 3 (20)(a)). The EINECS list contains, in principle, all substances on the
Community market on 18 September 1981. These are the so-called “existing substances”. The
full and exhaustive list is accessible at http://ecb.jrc.it/esis/. Note that the list has been “frozen”
and no more substances can be added to it or removed from it.
• The substance was manufactured in any of the current Member States of the EU , at least once
after 31 May 1992, without being placed on the EU market by the manufacturer or importer,
provided that the manufacturer or importer has documentary evidence of this. Such
documentary evidence can be, for example, order sheets, stock lists, or any other documents
which can be undoubtedly traced back to a date after 31 May 1992. If the substance was placed
on the market, it would normally have been notified under Directive 67/548/EEC and in that
case it will be considered as registered.
• The substance was placed on the market in any of the current Member States of the EU before
1 June 2007 by the manufacturer or importer, and is a so-called “no-longer polymer”. A NLP is
a substance which was placed on the EU market between 18 September 1981 and 31 October
1993 inclusive, was considered as notified under Article 8 (1) of the 6th amendment of
Directive 67/548/EEC (and hence did not have to be notified under that Directive), but which
does not meet the REACH definition of a polymer (which is the same as the polymer definition
introduced by the 7th amendment of Directive 67/548/EEC). Also in this case, the manufacturer
or importer must have documentary evidence that he placed the substance on the market in the
relevant territory and that it was considered as NLP (and as such considered as notified under
Article 8 (1) of the 6th amendment). Such documentary evidence can be, for example, order
sheets, stock lists, labels, safety data sheets, or any other documents which can be undoubtedly
traced back to a date between 18 September 1981 and 31 October 1993 inclusive. A non-
exhaustive list of NLPs is accessible at http://ecb.jrc.it/esis; note that it only serves information
purposes.
Please note that the transitional regime for phase-in substances also applies to on-site and
transported isolated intermediates as well as to substances in articles which need to be registered.
Note also that manufacturers and importers of phase-in substances who do not pre-register on
time, will not be able to benefit from the transitional regime provided for in Article 23. In this
case, they should have registered their substance as of 1st June 2008 before continuing their
manufacture or import as for any non phase-in substances (see section 1.7.1.2).
Legal references: Article 3 (20)
All substances that are not fulfilling any of the criteria for phase-in substances as presented in
section 1.7.1.1 are considered as non phase-in substances. Non phase-in substances do not benefit
from the transitional regime provided for phase-in substances and need to be registered before they
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
can be manufactured, imported or placed on the market in the EU, unless they have already been
notified under Directive 67/548/EEC (see section 1.6.5.3).
It is important to stress that registration of non phase-in substances will first require the submission
of an inquiry dossier to determine whether a registration or another inquiry has already been
submitted for the same substance so that data sharing mechanisms can apply. For more information
on Inquiry and data sharing processes see section 2.3.
Substances falling under the scope of the REACH Regulation and not exempted from the
registration obligation must be registered before they can be manufactured or placed on the market
(including import) in the EU. The substances, which have long been on the EU market (phase-in
substances), and the non-phase-in substances have different timelines for registration.
Substances which have not previously been placed on the EU market (non phase-in substances), and
phase-in substances which have not been pre-registered, must be registered before manufacture or
import starting 12 months after entry into force of the legislation, i.e. by 1 June 2008.
For phase-in substances, which are manufactured or imported in a quantity of 1 tonne or more per
year and which have been pre-registered between 1 June 2008 and 1 December 2008 (inclusive), the
registration provisions are applied in a stepwise way to facilitate the transition to REACH.
The transitional arrangements introduce different deadlines for registration, without the need to
interrupt the manufacture or import of these substances.
The deadlines set for the registration of phase-in substances have been based on the tonnage
manufactured or imported per manufacturer or importer or producer of articles. This follows from
the assumption that chemicals manufactured in high volumes will in many cases be more likely to
present a greater risk to humans and the environment. A greater priority has also been given to
substances of higher concern, such as carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic substances (CMR)
and substances which are very toxic to aquatic organisms and may cause long-terms effects in the
aquatic environment (classified as R50/53).
The 'phase-in' deadlines after entry into force of the Regulation are presented in the following
Table (applicable only if the substance has been pre-registered between 1st June and 1 December
2008):
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
Therefore, if you are a manufacturer or importer of a phase-in substance, your registration deadline
will depend on the above tonnage criteria.
Legal references: Article 23
Aim: The aim of this chapter is to present the structure of the registration dossier and to
explain briefly how to prepare it. It also explains what a joint submission of
registration data is and how to submit jointly the registration information to the
Agency.
Structure: The structure of this chapter is as follows:
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
Registration dossier –
how to prepare it and submit it to the Agency
Structure of
Registration dossier
Section 1.8.1
Access to information
and confidential data
Section 1.8.2
How to register
Section 1.8.3
Joint submission of
data
Section 1.8.4
Mechanisms of joint
Opt out possibilities
submission
Section 1.8.4.2
Section 1.8.4.1
The 'registration dossier' is the set of information submitted electronically by a registrant for a
particular substance. It consists of two main components:
(i) a technical dossier, always required for all substances subject to the registration obligations,
(ii) a chemical safety report, required if the registrant manufactures or imports a substance in
quantities of 10 tonnes or more per year, except for substances present in preparations in a
concentration below the concentration limits in Directive 1999/45/EC (concerning the classification
and labelling of preparations) for which there is no need to submit a CSR with the registration
dossier, even if the tonnage is above 10 tonnes per year.
The technical dossier contains a set of information about:
• the identity of the manufacturer/importer;
• the identity of the substance and information on the manufacture and use of the substance;
• the classification and labelling of the substance;
• guidance on its safe use;
• (robust) study summaries of the information on the intrinsic properties of the substance derived
from applying Annexes VII to XI;
• An indication as to whether the information on manufacture and use, the classification and
labelling, the (robust) study summaries and/or, if relevant, the chemical safety report has been
reviewed by an assessor;
• proposals for further testing, if relevant;
• for substances registered in quantities between 1 and 10 tonnes, the technical dossier shall also
contain exposure related information for the substance (main use categories, type of uses,
significant routes of exposure).
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
The information required to determine the properties of the substances varies according to the
tonnage in which the substance is manufactured or imported. The higher the tonnage the more
information on the intrinsic properties of the substance is required. The information requirements
are set out in the Annexes VI to XI of the Regulation. REACH foresees data sharing between
registrants to gather the required information.
Article 111 requires that the format of the technical dossier shall be IUCLID (International Uniform
Chemical Information Database). This means that also other IT tools could be used to prepare the
dossiers as long as they produce the exact same format. In this document only the preparation of the
registration dossier using IUCLID is described. The last version of this software is IUCLID 5 which
will be used as the reference in this document and for which a specific guidance is available
(Guidance on IUCLID). The IUCLID 5 software will be downloadable from the IUCLID website at
http://iuclid.eu for free by all parties, if used for non-commercial purposes.
The chemical safety report (CSR) is the documentation of the registrant's chemical safety
assessment (CSA) for his substance (or of relevant substances if the chemical safety report has been
developed for a category of substances having similar properties). Annex I reports general
provisions for assessing substances and preparing CSR. This chemical safety report contains a
detailed summary of information on the environmental and human health hazard properties of the
substance, together with an assessment of exposure and risk where such an assessment is required.
Figure 2 describes the principles of a chemical safety assessment.
Information/ data
The starting point for the chemical safety assessment is the collection of all available data on the
hazard of the substance, and human and environmental exposure occurring in relation to the
conditions under which the substance is used as well as information on the manufacture and uses.
Exposure assessment
If the substance is classified as dangerous or fulfils the PBT or vPvB criteria in Annex XIII, an
exposure assessment and risk characterisation shall be performed and included in the CSR to
demonstrate that the risks are adequately controlled. This exposure assessment is done using
exposure scenarios for each use of the substance. Even when not legally required, the collection and
assessment of use and exposure information will also be useful for the registrant to identify whether
he falls under any specific regime for registration (e.g. intermediates) or whether this information
can be used to waive any information required. Hence, even for substances that are not (yet)
classified, the registrant may decide to focus first on gathering and assessing his use and exposure
information. If a given test is waived according to the principles set out in REACH Annex XI.3, an
exposure assessment is also required.
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
The exposure assessment consists of two steps: the generation of exposure scenario(s) (ESs) and
estimation of exposure for each ES developed (see section 8.2.3.2). Exposure scenarios are sets of
conditions that describe how substances are manufactured or used during their life-cycle and how
the manufacturer or importer controls, or recommends downstream users to control, exposures of
humans and the environment.
The exposure estimation is based on the ES, which provides a set of parameters that are the main
drivers of exposure. The ES is a placeholder of these parameters and contains specifications of the
conditions of the use. The conditions of use cover Operational Conditions (OC) (e.g. the applied
amount of substance, duration of use, process temperature, pH etc.) and Risk Management
Measures (RMM) (e.g. exhaust ventilation, waste water treatment plant, personal protective
equipment), which the registrant has implemented or, where relevant, recommends the Downstream
User(s) to implement. The first 'tentative' ES will normally reflect the current practice (current OCs
and RMMs).
The exposure assessment needs to consider all life-cycle stages of the substance resulting from the
manufacture and identified uses and covers each human population and environmental compartment
known to be, or supposed to be, exposed.
Risk Characterisation
In the risk characterisation the exposure of each human population and environmental compartment
being exposed is compared with the appropriate DNEL or PNEC. Concern is indicated if the
estimated exposure is higher than the appropriate DNEL or PNEC.
If the first estimate indicates risks, the registrant has the choice of either
• refining the hazard assessment by obtaining more data; or
• refining the exposure assessment by ensuring that the exposure estimation is realistic and
reflects the use conditions defined in the initial Exposure Scenario (ES). Models or monitoring
data can be used to this end; or
• refining the ES by introducing more stringent RMM or changing the OC in the ES.
This is an iterative process that continues until it can be demonstrated that risks are adequately
controlled.
It should be noted that for some substances, it is not possible to derive a DNEL or PNEC. This may
be due to lack of data or due to specific properties of the substance (including so-called non-
threshold effects like some types of carcinogenicity as well as substances with PBT/vPvB
properties). In these situations, the same basic steps as set out above have to be followed in deriving
appropriate ES, but the risk characterisation will be more qualitative and/or semi-quantitative.
Further guidance on the iterative nature of the Chemical Safety Assessment process will be
available in the Guidance on the Chemical Safety Report.
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
More detailed guidance on when and how to conduct a CSA and when and how to report it to the
Agency can be found in the Guidance on the Chemical Safety Report.
Although the REACH Regulation requires information to be provided to the Agency, and
potentially exchanged with the other manufacturers and importers, some provisions (Articles 118
and 119) to protect commercially sensitive information are foreseen.
The general provisions on access to information are as follow:
• Information that is listed in Article 119 (1) and submitted in the registration dossier will be
made publicly available on the Agency website.
• A registrant may identify certain information in his registration as commercially sensitive in
accordance with Article 10(a)(xi). If the justification with regard to information listed in Article
119(2) is accepted as valid by the Agency, this information will be marked as commercially
sensitive in REACH–IT. Such information must not be published on the Agency website.
• Access to such pieces of information and other pieces of information may be granted by the
Agency on request on a case-by-case basis whenever this is foreseen in Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001. This Regulation defines cases in which public access to documents, whatever its
medium, has to be denied, for instance for reasons related to commercial interests. Where it is
not clear whether a document may or may not be disclosed, the regulation requires the Agency
to consult the owner of the document with a view to assessing whether it should or should not
be disclosed.
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
According to Article 119(2) the following pieces of information can be claimed confidential for
reasons relating to commercial interests, if justified:
• If essential to classification and labelling, the degree of purity of the substance and the identity
of impurities and/or additives which are known to be dangerous;
• the total tonnage band (i.e. 1-10 tonnes, 10-100 tonnes, 100-1 000 tonnes or over 1 000 tonnes)
within which a particular substance has been registered;
• the study summaries or robust study summaries of the information on physicochemical data
concerning the substance, on pathways and environmental fate as well as on toxicological and
ecotoxicological studies;
• certain information contained in the safety data sheet as defined in Article 119(2);
• the trade name(s) of the substance;
• the name in the IUPAC Nomenclature for non-phase-in substances which are dangerous within
the meaning of Directive 67/548/EEC for a period of six years;
• the name in the IUPAC Nomenclature for dangerous substances within the meaning of
Directive 67/548/EEC that are only used as one or more of the following:
(i) as an intermediate;
(ii) in scientific research and development;
(iii) in product and process orientated research and development.
Disclosure of the following information shall normally be deemed to undermine the protection of
the commercial interests of the concerned person, and therefore according to Article 118 this
information must not be published on the Agency website or disclosed otherwise, with an exception
when urgent action is essential to protect human health, safety or the environment:
• details of the full composition of a preparation;
• without prejudice to Article 7(6) and Article 64(2), the precise use, function or application of a
substance or preparation, including information about its precise use as an intermediate;
• the precise tonnage of the substance or preparation manufactured or placed on the market;
• links between a manufacturer or importer and his distributors or downstream users.
In contrast, the following information submitted in the registration dossier and held by the Agency
on substances whether on their own, in preparations or in articles, shall be made publicly available,
free of charge on the Agency website:
• the name in the IUPAC Nomenclature, for dangerous substances within the meaning of
Directive 67/548/EEC, without prejudice to paragraph 2(f) and (g);
• if applicable, the name of the substance as given in EINECS;
• the classification and labelling of the substance;
• physicochemical data concerning the substance and on pathways and environmental fate;
• the result of each toxicological and ecotoxicological study;
• any derived no-effect level (DNEL) or predicted no-effect concentration (PNEC) established in
accordance with Annex I;
• the guidance on safe use provided in accordance with section 4 and 5 of Annex VI;
• analytical methods if requested in accordance with Annexes IX or X which make it possible to
detect a dangerous substance when discharged into the environment as well as to determine the
direct exposure of humans.
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
This section will be developed when the submission module of REACH-IT is ready. It will explain
briefly how the electronic dossier submission will work.
The information that needs to be submitted jointly is submitted by one lead registrant on behalf of
the others. Other information needs to be submitted by all registrants individually. The lead
registrant of a joint submission could, for example, be the largest producer (i.e. one producer in the
higher tonnage range), as he in any case will have to register the entire data set by the first deadline.
However, this is not obligatory: the joint submission registrants have the possibility to appoint a
leader with a lower tonnage (for instance, if they have to prepare joint submissions for more
substances and decide to share the workload of managing the joint submissions). If they arrange
their joint submission like that, a lead registrant in a lower tonnage band has to provide a complete
dossier anyway (i.e. with studies for the higher tonnage) meeting the first deadline applying to any
of the registrants. For more guidance on how the registrants of a joint registration should prepare
their dossier, please read section 8.2.4. It is important to stress that the “lead registrant” will always
pay the fee corresponding only to his own tonnage band.
In terms of timing, the lead registrant will have to submit first his registration dossier. The other
registrants covered by this joint submission will be identified in this dossier. The other registrant(s)
will then have to submit their own registration dossier containing, as a minimum, the information
they need to submit separately.
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
In case the lead registrant ceases manufacture, the other registrants have to appoint a new lead
registrant.
The registration fees, set by a Commission Regulation at the latest by 1 June 2008, will take into
account whether the submission is joint or separate.
Legal references: Article 11
A manufacturer or importer may submit common parts of the registration dossier separately (opt-
out of joint submission) in case when at least one of the reasons listed in Article 11(3), or for
substances in intermediates respectively in Article19(2), applies:
(a) it would be disproportionately costly for him to submit this information jointly, or
(b) submitting the information jointly would lead to disclosure of information which he considers
to be a Confidential Business Information (CBI), or
(c) he disagrees with the lead registrant on the selection of the information submitted in the lead
registration.
In this case the registrant has to submit along with his dossier an explanation as to why the costs
would be disproportionate, why disclosure of information was likely to lead to substantial
commercial detriment or the nature of the disagreement, as the case may be. More detailed guidance
on the opting out possibilities and mechanisms can be found in the Guidance on data sharing.
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
2. DATA SHARING
Basic principles of data
sharing procedures
Section 2.1
In order to facilitate data sharing, the REACH Regulation requires that, prior to registration, all
substances must either be pre-registered or an inquiry must be submitted. In general, pre-
registration is relevant for phase-in substances and the inquiry for non-phase-in and phase-in
substances that have not been pre-registered.
This applies to all potential registrants, including those who have a full set of data covering their
information requirements and those that have to make a testing proposal to the Agency in
accordance with Article 12(1) (d) and (e).
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GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION
One of the objectives of REACH is to avoid unnecessary testing, especially animal vertebrate
testing, as far as possible, while balancing this with the generation of necessary information to
identify the hazard of substances and manage the resulting risks. Duplicate animal testing has to be
avoided and tests on vertebrate animals shall only be undertaken as a last resort (Article 25). To
meet this objective, data sharing mechanisms have been developed and incorporated in the
legislation (Title III: Data sharing and avoidance of unnecessary testing).
With respect to data sharing, data must be shared for the same substance in the case of information
involving tests on vertebrate animals. Before testing is carried out on vertebrate animals, potential
registrant must request it either in the SIEF or through the inquiry process from the previous
registrant. Information not involving tests on vertebrate animals must be shared if requested by a
potential registrant of the same substance. The data sharing mechanisms aim to ensure that sharing
of costs of studies which are already available is agreed amongst potential registrants in a fair,
proportionate and non-discriminatory way. In cases where the sharing of costs cannot be resolved
amongst potential registrants, a provision to assign costs equally is included in the Regulation.
Importantly, in the case of lacking data, the aim of the sharing mechanism is for potential registrants
of the same substance to agree who will undertake the necessary data collection to ensure that the
test is carried out only once.
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This section outlines the Inquiry process. More information is provided in the Guidance on data
sharing.
Legal references: Article 26 and 27
Inquiry is the process by which every potential registrant must inquire from the Agency whether a
registration has already been submitted for the same substance. This is to ensure that data are shared
by the relevant parties. The duty to inquire applies to non phase-in substances. It also applies to
phase-in substances that have not been pre-registered.
An inquiry must be submitted before proceeding with substance registration, even in cases where
the potential registrant possesses a full set of data for meeting the information requirements, and in
cases where the potential registrant has to make a testing proposal to the Agency in accordance with
Article 12(1) (d) and (e).
Therefore, in cases where the potential registrant desires rapid access to the market it will be in his
interest to submit an inquiry as early as possible.
When submitting an inquiry, potential registrants are required to submit contact details, information
on substance identity and on relevant information requirements (Article 26 and Annex VI, Sections 1
and 2).
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2.3.3.3 List of information requirements and of new studies which may be required
The information requirements for a specific substance will depend on the proposed tonnage band.
The potential registrant needs to identify the list of information requirements for their particular
substance in order to facilitate the subsequent data sharing stage.
The potential registrant shall identify:
• which information requirements would require new studies involving vertebrate animals to be
carried out by him;
• which information requirements would require other new studies to be carried out by him.
Guidance on the information needed for general registration purposes, including information
requirements under the various tonnage bands can be found in Part II of this document and in the
Guidance on information requirements.
The inquiry dossier is to be prepared on line using the REACH IT web application. Guidance will
be updated as soon as REACH IT is developed.
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In order to prepare his registration dossier it is important that the registrant communicates with his
Downstream Users. In particular he will need information about their uses and the risk management
measures they have already put in place. Tentative Exposure Scenarios could be used for the
communication with the DU in order to refine the ES.
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In particular the final ES developed for identified uses as part of the CSA has to be communicated
to the registrant’s customers as an annex to the SDS as this provides instructions of risk
management measures that should be in place in order to ensure adequate control of risks.
The SDS will have to be updated with the new information required by REACH for the first supply
of the substance or preparation as soon as this information is required by the different title of
REACH.
The new SDS format (as described in Annex II) applies as of 1 June 2007. However, potential
difficulties for companies in adjusting the SDS for the format change only were discussed at the
meeting of the Commission Working Group on the Practical Preparations for REACH (CWG) on
13 March 2007 and at a meeting of the CWG subgroup on enforcement on 16 May 2007. The
Member States authorities responsible for the enforcement of the SDS provisions agreed that the
first priority for enforcement should be the correctness of the content of SDS.
If the substance is subject to registration, but has not yet been registered, or if the substance is
within the scope of Article 1 of Directive 67/548/EEC and meets the criteria for classification as
dangerous and is placed on the market on its own or in a preparation above the concentration limits
specified in Directive 1999/45/EC, the registrant must electronically notify to the Agency the
information related to its classification and labelling.
This has to be done before the 1st December 2010 for substances already on the market at that date
or as soon as the substance is placed on the market for substances not yet on the market on the 1st
December 2010 (Article 116).
For substances registered before 1st December 2010 the classification and labelling will be reported
in the registration dossier and no separate notification is required.
The Agency will collate all this information on classification and labelling into a classification and
labelling inventory. Most of this inventory will be publicly accessible (in particular the
classification and labelling of the substance); other parts will only be accessible to notifiers and
registrants who have submitted information on the same substance. This inventory will indicate the
relevant registration number(s) (if available) and whether the classifications submitted for the same
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substance by different registrants or notifiers differ. In the latter case, the registrants and notifiers
are required to make every effort to come to an agreed classification, and update their
registrations/notifications as appropriate (the Guidance on C&L notification will be developed
separately).
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The information submitted in the registration dossier to the Agency will have to be kept up-to-date.
It is the responsibility of the registrant to update his registration dossier when needed. If the
information to be updated is part of jointly submitted information, it is recommended that the lead
registrant updates his dossier.
There are basically two types of situations where a registrant needs to update his registration and re-
submit it to the Agency:
− Update on the registrant's own initiative
Registrants are required to inform the Agency about new relevant available information on the
registered substance or on their registration dossier (Article 22(1)). Any new information has to
be submitted without undue delay to the Agency in the form of an updated version of the
registration dossier. For more information see section 9.1.3.
− Update as a consequence of a decision made by the Agency or the Commission
The registrant has to update his registration as a consequence of the Agency or Commission
decision under the evaluation procedure. These updates have to be performed within the
deadline specified by the Agency/Commission in the decision. The registrant should also
consider updating his registration taking into account any decision made in accordance with
Article 60 (Granting of authorisation) and Article 73 (Commission decision on Restrictions).
For more information see section 9.1.4.
Moreover, according to Article 20(6) whenever additional information for a particular substance is
submitted to the Agency by a new registrant, the Agency is responsible to notify the existing
registrants that this information is available on the database. As a consequence the registrant has to
take this information into account and if relevant update his registration dossier. An update shall be
accompanied by the relevant part of the fee required in accordance with Title IX Fees and charges.
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5 APPEAL PROCEDURES
In case when registrant or potential registrants or registrants disagree with the Agency decisions,
they can appeal against those decisions to the Agency’s Board of Appeal.
The body to revise and take decisions on the appeals brought up against Agency decisions will be
the Board of Appeal.
Related to the registration process, an appeal may be brought against Agency decisions in 5 cases:
1) in the completeness check - decision of the Agency to ask completion of a registration and
set a deadline for submission of the required information, or to reject a registration if the
registrant failed to complete his registration within the deadline set by the Agency (see
section 7.3 on rejection of the registration dossier and Article 20 (5)).
2) in the inquiry process – the decision of the Agency to give permission to the potential
registrant to refer to the information submitted by the previous registrant in his registration
dossier (Article 27(6)).
3) in the data sharing for phase-in substances - decision of the Agency to appoint a registrant or
downstream user to carry out the test on behalf of other registrants in a case where this test
is not available within the SIEF (Article 30(2)).
4) in the data sharing for phase-in substances - decision of the Agency to give permission to
all relevant registrants to refer to the information submitted by the registrant who during the
data sharing procedures refused to provide either proof of the cost of the study or the study
itself (Article 30 (3)).
5) in updating procedures – the decision of the Agency or the Commission requesting the
submission of additional information as a consequence of the evaluation procedure as
referred to in section 3 above.
All appeals must contain a statement of the grounds on which the appeal is based.
As underlined in Article 92, the appeal may be filed in writing by the registrant himself to the
Agency, at the latest 3 months after the notification of the decision (to reject the registration, to give
permission to information submitted by another registrant, to appoint a registrant to carry out a test,
to request submission of additional information) to the person concerned by the decision.
The appeal may also be filed in writing by a person other than the registrant if the decision is of
direct and individual concern to this other person. The appeal must be submitted at the latest 3
months after the date at which the decision became known to the person. For fees on the appeal,
please consult the Commission Regulation on the fees and charges payable to the European
Chemicals Agency which is foreseen to be available at the latest on 1 June 2008.
The appeal is examined in the Agency. If, after consultation with the Chairman of the Board of
Appeal, the Executive Director of the Agency considers the appeal to be admissible and well
founded he may rectify the decision within 30 days of the appeal being filed. Otherwise the
Chairman of the Board of Appeal examines if the appeal is admissible within 30 days of the appeal
being filed. If yes, he remits the appeal to the Board of Appeal for examination of the grounds.. The
Board of Appeal may exercise any power which lies within the competence of the Agency or remit
the case to the competent body of the Agency for further action.
If the result is still not to the liking of the party concerned, an action may be brought before the
Court of First Instance or the Court of Justice, contesting the decision taken by the Board of Appeal
or, in cases where no right of appeal lies before the Board, by the Agency.
Legal references: Article 90, Article 91, Article 92 and Article 94.
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6 FEES
Title IX of the REACH Regulation describes the framework for establishing a separate fee
regulation and the basic principles to be observed when creating the regulation are described. This
Commission Regulation on the fees and charges payable to the European Chemicals Agency still
needs to be adopted, at the latest by 1 June 2008.
A registrant is obliged to pay a fee for his registration as a contribution to covering the costs
imposed on the Agency and competent authorities (see Article 19 (3)). In order for the Agency to
be able to establish an invoice, the registrant is asked to submit his billing information on-line either
before the first registration is made or during the first registration process.
The system to be applied for the computation of the applicable fee shall be the following:
Once the registrant has uploaded a registration dossier to the REACH-IT system through the web-
portal of the Agency, the REACH-IT system automatically computes the applicable fee for the
dossier submitted.
When calculating the fee, the following points will be taken into consideration:
• The scale of fees fixed for the different tonnage ranges;
• An SME reduction if applicable; for this purpose the registrant will be asked to make a
declaration on-line on the web portal of the Agency;
• A reduction for joint submission, if applicable;
• The items flagged according to (the provisions on required restrictions to electronic public
access to information listed under) Article 119 (2).
As soon as possible after the submission of the registration dossier, normally in the course of the
next working day, the Agency will issue an invoice for the registration dossier(s) submitted. Upon
receipt of the invoice, the registrant shall carry out the payment as indicated in the invoice.
An update shall be accompanied by the relevant part of the fee as indicated in Article 22 (5) of the
REACH Regulation. As with a first time registration, the registrant has to submit the updated
dossier through the web-portal of the Agency and the REACH-IT system will automatically
compute the applicable fee for the update and send the relevant invoice to the registrant.
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For any submission, the REACH IT system in the Agency automatically assigns a submission
number to the registrant for the submission concerned and a submission date. The Agency IT
system without delay communicates this submission number and date to the concerned registrant.
The submission number is to be used for all correspondence regarding the relevant dossier type (e.g.
pre-registration, registration or PPORD notification). In the case of registration (including
registration of on-site isolated intermediates and transported isolated intermediates) and PPORD
notification the submission number is to be used until the registration/notification is deemed to be
complete (Article 20 (1)). It will then be replaced by the registration/notification number.
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This process is aimed at checking the technical completeness of the dossier. The main purpose of
this check is to make sure that depending on the tonnage range all elements as required in the
legislation, in particular in Articles 10, 12 and the relevant Annexes have been provided.
After submission to the Agency each received dossier is screened for the technical completeness
using a specially created algorithm that is specific for each dossier type depending on the legal
requirements. The system checks if all required fields are filled and that all testing proposals,
derogation statements, waving statements etc. are included. In the case of a negative result, the
Agency will verify the outcome of the completeness check to make sure that the decision is fully
correct.
Considering that the rejection of the registration dossier will not be without consequences for the
registrant, the Agency intends to provide a tool within the IT system that will allow the registrant to
perform a check for the completeness of his registration dossier before its submission to the
Agency.
The Agency will monitor the payment of the fee as specified in the invoice. If a registrant fails to
pay the full amount by the deadline indicated on the invoice, the Agency shall set a second
reasonable deadline. If the registrant fails to meet the second deadline, the registration dossier shall
be rejected. There could be circumstances, such as internal procedures or periods of limited service
within a company, under which timely payment could be problematic. In that case it is
recommended to prepare the payment of the fee due before submitting the dossier so that the
Agency will receive the proof of payment in time before finalising the completeness check after
submission of the dossier.
The Agency shall undertake the completeness check of a registration dossier within three weeks of
the submission date, or within three months of the relevant deadline of Article 23, as regards
registrations of phase-in substances submitted in the course of the two-month period immediately
preceding that deadline (Article 20(2)).
If the registration dossier is incomplete and/or the fee payment is missing, the Agency shall inform
the registrant, before expiry of the given period, as to what further information is required in order
for the registration to be complete (Article 20(2)).
The negative decision on the outcome of the completeness check will be notified to the registrant in
the form of a report indicating the points that are missing, while setting a reasonable deadline for
providing the necessary information. This decision can be challenged through the appeal procedure.
The registrant must complete his registration accordingly and submit it once more to the Agency
within the deadline set. The Agency will confirm the submission date of the further information to
the registrant and will perform a further completeness check, considering the further information
submitted.
A registrant may start or continue the manufacture or import of a substance or production or import
of an article, if there is no indication to the contrary from the Agency within 3 weeks after the
submission date (Article 21(1)).
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In case the registrant fails to complete his registration for the second time within the deadline set,
the Agency will reject his registration. This decision can be challenged through the appeal
procedure. The registration fee will not be reimbursed and the company will not be allowed to
manufacture or import this substance within the EU (Article 20(2)).
Once the registration is complete the REACH IT system at the Agency automatically assigns a
registration number to the registrant for the substance concerned and a registration date that will be
the same as the submission date. The Agency without delay communicates the registration number
and date to the concerned registrant. From that moment on the registrant shall use the registration
number for the subsequent correspondence regarding registration procedures (Articles 20 (3)).
Moreover, the registration number will have to be incorporated in the SDSs for any supply after
reception of that registration number.
For a given substance, distinct dossier types may apply. For example, a substance initially notified
as a PPORD may require the submission of a registration dossier at the end of the exemption period
if the PPORD leads to a commercial use of the substance. Also, a substance for which initially a
notification of the classification and labelling was submitted may later lead to the submission of a
registration dossier. In those cases, the substance will hold an identification number of each kind, a
PPORD number and a registration number in the first above example, and a C&L number and a
registration number in the second above example. All those numbers are called “reference numbers”
and will have the following structure: <TYPE>-<BASE-NUMBER>-<CHECKSUM>-<INDEX-NUMBER>
where:
· <TYPE> is a 2-digit number giving the type of number:
- 01 Registration
- 02 C&L notification
- 03 Substance in article
- 04 PPORD
- 05 Pre-registration
- 06 Inquiry
- 07 On-site isolated intermediates
- 08 Transported on-site isolated intermediates
- 09 Data holder notification
· <BASE- is a 10-digit number 5
NUMBER>
· <CHECKSUM> is a 2-digit number
5 This number has been amended in May 2008. Please refer to page 110 et seq. for further information.
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According to Article 20(4) within 30 days of the submission date, the Agency has to notify the
Competent Authority of the Member State within which the manufacture takes place or the importer
is established, that the registration has been submitted and that the registration dossier together with
the submission or registration number and date as well as the result of the completeness check is
available in the Agency database.
If the manufacturer has production sites in more than one Member State, all relevant Member States
will be notified.
The Agency should also notify about any request for further information including deadlines set and
when any further information submitted by the registrant is available on the Agency database.
Whenever a new registrant submits to the Agency additional information for a particular already
registered substance, the Agency shall notify the existing registrants that this information is
available in the database (Article 20(6)). As a consequence, this may lead to the update of the
existing registrations (see section 4 and 9).
The completeness check of an updated dossier will include a comparison with the previously
submitted version of the dossier.
As soon as the updated dossier(s) is complete the Agency shall inform the relevant Member State
Competent Authority about an update (Articles 22(1), 22(2)).
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8.1.1 Introduction
In this section, guidance is provided on the obligations that apply to registrants regarding the
information to be submitted in the registration dossier according to Article 10. Most of the
information to be submitted, particularly in the technical dossier relates to the intrinsic properties of
the substance even if registrants have also to gather information on uses and exposure. Therefore
this document provides mainly guidance on registrants' obligations regarding the general process of
submission of information in particular related to intrinsic properties. Further detailed guidance is
provided in the Guidance on information requirements.
It is recognized that in the case of import of a preparation, it can be difficult to obtain information
on the composition of the preparation from the non EU supplier. However, also under existing
Community legislation (e.g. for classification and labelling of preparations) importers need to know
which substances are present in the preparations being imported to be sure they are complying with
the law. It will be up to companies to improve the communication through their supply chain to
ensure their compliance with REACH. In case disclosure of the composition of the preparation may
have consequences, the non EU exporter has the possibility to appoint an only representative, as
explained in section 1.5.3.4.
Manufacturers and importers have to collect all available existing information on the intrinsic
properties of a substance regardless of tonnage manufactured or imported as well as on its
manufacture and uses. This information has in turn to be compared with the standard information
requirements, which depend on the quantity of the given substance for each manufacturer or
importer. As indicated in Annex VI this is done following a four step process which will be further
described in the following sections.
Annexes VII to X specify the standard information requirements according to four tonnage bands
from 1 tonne per year to ≥ 1000 tonnes per year (cf. Article 12). For the lowest tonnage level, the
standard requirements are in Annex VII, and when a new tonnage level is reached, the requirements
of the corresponding Annex have to be added. The Annexes thus need to be considered as a whole
and in conjunction with the overall requirements of registration, evaluation and the duty of care as
detailed in Table 1. These standard requirements may, however, be adapted (waived or increased)
when appropriately justified (Annexes III and VI to XI). Accordingly, for each substance the precise
information requirements may differ, according to the available information on inherent properties
as well as to tonnage, use and exposure.
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Tonnage bands Annex VI Annex VII Annex VIII Annex IX Annex X Annex XI
1 – 10 t/y x x x
(+ Annex III)
10 – 100 t/y x x x x
100 – 1000 t/y x x x x x
≥1000 t/y x x x x x x
It has to be stressed that where possible the registrant is obliged to share or generate data with other
registrants of the same substance, instead of generating data by himself if this would involve animal
experiments (see Guidance on data sharing).
Information on intrinsic properties of substances may be generated by using sources of information
other than in vivo testing, provided that the conditions set out in Annex XI are met. The registrant
may use a variety of alternative methods such as (Q)SARs ((Quantitative) Structure Activity
Relationships), in vitro tests and grouping of substances / category approach and read across
approach.
All these different sources of information can be used also in a weight of evidence approach.
Where tests on substances are required to generate information on intrinsic properties of substances,
they must be conducted in accordance with the test methods laid down in the relevant Commission
Regulation (still to be adopted) or in accordance with other international test methods recognised by
the Commission or the Agency. Ecotoxicological and toxicological tests and analyses must be
carried out in compliance with the principles of good laboratory practice (GLP) or other
international standards recognised as being equivalent by the Agency or the Commission and with
the provisions of Directive 86/609/EEC.
A key feature of REACH is the close parallel and iterative relationship between the Chemical
Safety Assessment (CSA), the Risk Management Measures and the process of gathering and/or
generating information on the properties of a substance as explained in section 1.3. Each of these
must inform and feed-back to the others. Accordingly, the registrant should provide appropriate
information on the intrinsic properties of substances that is useful for performing the Classification
and Labelling (C&L) and the Chemical Safety Assessment (CSA) as required by Article 12 and
section 0.5 of Annex I. The results of the CSA may indicate that in the next iteration further
information needs to be generated. Extensive guidance on the Chemical Safety Assessment is
available in Guidance on the Chemical Safety Report.
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REACH. Therefore in order to avoid duplicative efforts and to save resources coordination between
this programme and the REACH regulation is clearly needed.
In Annex I of chapter 1 of the "OECD Manual for Investigation of HPV Chemicals"
(http://www.oecd.org/document/7/0,2340,en_2649_34379_1947463_1_1_1_1,00.html), a document
has been developed highlighting the synergies between REACH and the OECD HPV Chemicals
Programme. From this document it is clear that the output of the OECD HPV Chemicals
Programme can contribute to REACH implementation in specific REACH processes and
particularly for the formation of Substance Information Exchange Fora (SIEFs) as well as for
registration. Many of the requirements to manufacturers/importers when preparing a registration
dossier in the framework of REACH are similar or identical to the requirements of the OECD HPV
Chemicals Programme such as:
• All substance related information will be reported in IUCLID 5: the templates of IUCLID 5
have been harmonised with OECD and as such key study data are reported in the OECD
Robust Study Summaries format.
• Consistent guidance is applied when waiving information requirements using the chemical
category approach or (Q)SARs
• New information is generated using the OECD Test Guidelines, when available
• When writing the CSR, formats and the content requirements for the hazard assessment part are
fully compatible with those of the OECD SIDS Initial Assessment Report (SIAR).
The technical similarities between REACH and the OECD HPV Programme are listed in the OECD
document.
As a consequence, OECD SIDS Dossier and SIDS Initial Assessment Report (SIAR) can be used to
prepare a REACH registration dossier, though for the purposes of REACH that dossier will
necessarily need to contain additional information. This also means that parts of a SIDS Dossier and
SIAR can be directly extracted from a REACH registration dossier.
The technical similarities between the two programmes allow for writing the hazard assessment part
of a CSA (CSR) for registration under REACH using and moderately modifying a SIAR. Similarly
a SIAR can be written using the hazard assessment part of the CSR, with deletions and minor
modifications.
The OECD document also proposes a way forward on how to use the SIDS documents/REACH
registration dossiers for the preparation of respectively REACH registration dossiers/SIDS
documents and three cases have been differentiated depending on the registration deadline for
REACH and therefore the presence or absence of a SIDS dossier.
In conclusion, in order to avoid duplicative efforts of both registrants and Agency/Member States,
similarities between the REACH regulation and the OECD HPV Chemicals Programme should be
taken into account when preparing or evaluating registration dossier where an OECD SIDS/SIAR is
available.
Annex VI describes a general scheme on the process and four steps to be followed by the registrant
to fulfil the information requirements for a given substance:
Step 1: Gather and share existing information
Step 2: Consider information needs
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The registrant has to gather all existing available information on the substance, both from in-house
files and from any other sources, which may be useful to inform on the properties of that substance.
Articles 11 or 19 require that, when several legal entities need to register the same substance,
registrations are submitted jointly enabling test data to be shared. In case of joint submission
information on intrinsic properties of the substance should be shared as far as possible and
submitted by the lead registrant on behalf of the others. More guidance on this issue can be found in
the Guidance on data sharing.
The information to be gathered refers to:
• Testing data: i.e. all in vivo or in vitro testing data,
• Non-testing data: from computational tools i.e. data obtained with (Q)SAR models, or obtained
by grouping of substances or read across etc. Further information on the use of these non-
testing methods is available in the Guidance on information requirements (Section 6)
• Information on manufacture, uses and risk management measures and resulting exposures
The registrant must perform a thorough, reliable and well documented information gathering.
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Information generated from (Q)SAR or by the application of a read across from one chemical to
another should be treated like any other information when gathering information. The process on
how to fill and submit a registration dossier will not be different when such information is provided.
However, registrants who want to submit a registration dossier for a substance as part of a chemical
category need to consult the specific guidance developed in the Guidance on information
requirements (section 6) where a stepwise approach for developing chemical categories is proposed
(see also the text box below).
• The registrant builds a chemical category for his own substances but with input from
other registrants with similar substances.
• The registrant builds a joint category together with registrants of other substances for
a number of substances that can be used by all registrants.
The data for each substance being part of a category should be shared with other registrants.
The registrants of the different substances that can form a category can decide to prepare
together the data set for the full category, which could be used for the registration of all
individual substances. In case there are disagreements between registrants, there is a
possibility for one or more registrant to opt out from the joint registration and build its own
category. For details, see the Guidance on data sharing.
For each available piece of information the registrant must evaluate its adequacy, relevance and
reliability. Thus the registrant must for each endpoint assess whether the available information
gathered:
• is relevant and of sufficient quality,
• fulfils the specific requirements triggered by tonnage as described in Annex VII to X, and
• is appropriate for hazard classification, identification of Persistent Bioaccumulative and Toxic
substances (PBT) or very Persistent and very Bioaccumulative substances (vPvB) as well as for
risk assessment.
The outcome of this assessment should allow the registrant to determine which studies can be used
in the hazard assessment, whether a specific study should be used as a key study (see text box
below) for an endpoint or as supporting information and which studies can be used as part of a
weight of evidence approach (more guidance on weight of evidence approaches can be found in the
Guidance on information requirements).
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All the relevant available information should then be documented in the form of a study summary
or a robust study summary in IUCLID format. More guidance on when to provide a robust study
summary or a study summary is available in section 8.2.2.6.
The registrant must identify precisely what the information requirements for the substance are.
REACH requires the submission of information on:
• Substance identity
• Physicochemical properties
• Mammalian toxicity
• Ecotoxicity
• Environmental fate, including abiotic and biotic degradation.
• Information on manufacture and use(s) as well as risk management measures
Regardless of tonnage, the registrant must always provide all relevant physicochemical,
toxicological and ecotoxicological information that is available to him even if not required (e.g.
information he holds himself or that he can obtain from other information sources). He has to fulfil
the standard information requirements on intrinsic properties as laid down in column 1 of Annexes
VII to X for substances manufactured or imported in a certain tonnage band, and when a new
tonnage level is attained, the information requirements of the corresponding Annex must be added.
In addition he needs to submit information on manufacture and use(s) as laid down in Article 10 and
Annex VI.
In each of the Annexes VII to X, column 2 lists specific criteria, e.g. exposure or hazard
characteristics, according to which the standard information requirements for individual endpoints
may be modified (adapted), i.e. specifying possibilities for waiving the requirements for certain
information or in certain cases defining the need for additional information. When waiving
information, i.e. not providing the information requested in one of the Annexes, based on the
condition in column 2 of the relevant Annex, the registrant must provide adequate justification and
include this in the registration dossier.
In addition to these specific rules, the registrant may adapt the required standard information
requirements according to the general rules contained in Annex XI which refers to situations where:
• testing does not appear scientifically necessary. This can be the case when appropriate
information can be obtained using existing data, non-testing methods ((Q)SARs, on read-across
or a grouping approach), and in vitro methods;
6 OECD (2006) Manual for investigation of HPV Chemicals. Chapter 2: SIDS, the SIDS plan and the SIDS Dossier.
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Considerations for phase-in substances manufactured or imported between 1 to 10 tonnes per year.
In case of phase-in substances between 1 to 10 tonnes, the information requirements in Annex VII
(except for physico/chemical properties) can be waived if none of the criteria laid down in Annex III
are met. More guidance is available in Guidance on information requirements. It should be borne in
mind, however, that the requirement to submit all available information applies also in these cases.
In this step the registrant has to compare the information requirements identified in step 2 with the
information gathered in step 1 and identify where there are information gaps and consider how
missing information can be generated. The registrant has therefore first to assess the information
gathered by using usually a weight of evidence approach in order to determine whether the
information requirements are already met or if this not the case.
If at the end of the assessment process the information is considered insufficient, then the registrant
should go to step 4.
Registrants have also the flexibility to provide data beyond their obligations as listed in Annexes VII
to X, when they consider it necessary to fulfil their obligations to ensure safe handling and use of
their chemicals. It should be noted, however, that when these tests concern the tests listed in
Annexes IX-X a testing proposal has to be submitted prior to performing any test and a scientific
justification for the need of these test should be included. This testing proposal has to be evaluated
by the Agency.
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When there is an information gap which cannot be filled by any of the non-testing methods
mentioned in step 2, the registrant has to take action depending on the missing test/information
identified in step 3:
• when Annexes VII or VIII apply the registrant has to generate new information according to the
guidance given in the Guidance on information requirements;
• when Annexes IX or X apply the registrant has to prepare a testing proposal in any case and
submit this as part of his registration dossier to the Agency for its consideration (note that this
also applies to non-vertebrate animal tests listed in Annexes IX and X). The choice of the
relevant test to be performed should be made based on the application of so-called Integrated
Testing Strategies (ITS) developed for each endpoint. For further guidance on ITS chapter 7 of
the Guidance on information requirements should be consulted. In this case, the registrant has
to implement and/or recommend to downstream users interim risk management measures while
awaiting the outcome of the Agency decision regarding the test proposal and the subsequent
conduction of the test proposed.
When new testing is carried out, procedures in accordance with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)
must be followed for environmental (including ecotoxicity and fate) or toxicological tests (Article
13(4)) and the test methods used must be in accordance with the tests methods laid down in a
Commission Regulation or in accordance with other international test methods recognised by the
Commission or the Agency as being appropriate (Article 13(3)). Other methods may also be used
provided that the conditions set out, in Annex XI and exemplified in the Guidance on information
requirements, are met, in particular:
• they are adequate for the purpose of classification and labelling and/or risk assessment;
• sufficient documentation is provided to assess the adequacy of the study;
It is important to stress that testing on animals should be seen as the last resort. Testing on animals
should only be proposed when the registrant considers it necessary to obtain additional information
for assessing and documenting that risks are adequately controlled.
All the above conditions should be considered, not only to design fit-for-purpose in vivo tests, but
also for providing a justification for not performing in vivo testing under certain circumstances.
When preparing a testing proposal, the registrant must provide a justification that:
• the testing is necessary:
• for the purpose of bringing the registration dossier into compliance (i.e. the testing
proposal is needed to fulfil the REACH information requirements);
• as the results will increase the knowledge on the dangerous properties of the substance in
order to protect human health or the environment. This is particularly important when
additional testing for endpoints beyond the standard information requirements are
proposed (See more information in section 2.1 of the Guidance on evaluation).
• the testing proposal is adequate, i.e reliable and relevant (as defined in the Guidance on
information requirements);
Following the examination by the Agency of the testing proposal, the registrant receives a formal
decision and has to take appropriate action within the deadlines set by the Agency (unless he
decides to appeal against the decision of the Agency). For more details see the Guidance on
evaluation.
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All relevant and available information has to be documented in both the technical dossier and for
substances manufactured or imported in quantities of 10 tonnes or more per year per registrant in
the chemical safety report (CSR). At least all the information required under Article 10(a) for the
technical dossier and under Article 10(b) for the chemical safety report (CSR) needs to be
documented in the recommended reporting formats which must be, for the technical dossier,
IUCLID (Article 111).
Tasks to be undertaken:
• Document the technical dossier with all relevant and available information according to Article
10 and Annexes VI to XI in IUCLID (see section 8.2.2)
• Carry out the Chemical Safety Assessment (CSA) for substances manufactured or imported in
quantities of 10 tonnes or more per year per registrant (see section 8.2.3)
• Carry out the hazard assessments (human health, environment, physico-chemical
properties) and the PBT/vPvB assessment
• If the substance is dangerous according to the criteria of Directive 67/548/EEC or
assessed as PBT/vPvB document:
− Define and carry out the exposure assessment(s) (including exposure scenario(s)).
− Carry out the risk characterisation.
• Record the results of the CSA in the Chemical Safety Report (CSR) format
Once generated the registration dossier is submitted to the Agency using REACH IT as described in
Figure 4.
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Dossier header
Identity of registrants
technical
Substance European
dossier IUCLID
information Chemicals
dossier
Agency
Submission via
REACH-IT
CSR (stand alone
document attached to
the IUCLID file)
Figure 4 Structure and format of the registration dossier prepared using IUCLID
8.2.1 IUCLID
This part of the document gives more detailed guidance on how to use IUCLID 5 for the
preparation of the registration dossier. IUCLID 5 software will be downloadable from the IUCLID
website [http://iuclid.eu] for free by all parties, if used for non-commercial purposes.
IUCLID 5 was developed for entering, storing and disseminating information on the properties and
uses of substances. In particular, for each endpoint, harmonised data templates 7 have been
developed in cooperation with the OECD so that IUCLID 5 can be used in different chemical
assessment programmes, like the OECD HPV Chemicals Programme, US HPV Challenge
Programme, Japan Challenge Programme, EU Biocides Directive as well as the EU REACH
regulation. More information, such as information on exposure can also be stored in less structured
but specific fields.
IUCLID 5 can also be used for preparing parts of the assessment reports. In particular, there are
endpoint summary sections which allow the user to report the justification and summary of the
assessment at each endpoint level that could be used for the equivalent section in the Chemical
Safety Report (CSR). Some of these endpoint summary sections also exist at (eco)toxicological
properties level, to report DNELS and PNECs.
All available and relevant information has to be reported in IUCLID. The decision of what is
relevant is up to the registrant but the some issues can be taken into consideration as detailed in
section 8.2.2.
7 An OECD harmonised template is a standard format for reporting a summary of the results of a test on a chemical to
determine its properties or effects on human health and the environment (e.g. hydrolysis, skin irritation, repeat dose
toxicity, etc.). These templates can be used for reporting summary results for testing on any type of a chemical(e.g.
pesticides, biocides, industrial chemicals).
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Endpoint summary
An endpoint summary includes the summary of the evaluation made of all relevant study
summaries or robust study summaries compiled in a specific IUCLID section. On the endpoint
level (e.g. short-term toxicity to fish), an endpoint summary should focus on the most important
information, i.e., most critical results and conclusions, and justify the use of certain studies for
this hazard identification. This information can come directly from a key study, but it can also
be derived from a weigh of evidence approach or any other means.
The purpose of endpoint summaries is to describe and summarise the result of the evaluation
made on all available information for a specific endpoint and conclude on the assessment for
that endpoint. "Endpoint summaries" are also available at a higher level of the IUCLID
hierarchy, such as "ecotoxicological information", and their purpose is to document information
that is needed for the chemical safety assessment, such as PNECs or DNELs.
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The registrant must then fill IUCLID 5 fields by using the information gathered earlier in the
process. The way to fill the different fields as well as the level of details needed is described in the
following sections. In order to facilitate the work of the registrant this guidance for preparing the
technical dossier has been developed in following the structure of IUCLID 5 but with clear links to
the information requirements described in Article 10 and Annex VI. Furthermore a summary of the
information listed in Article 10 and the corresponding sections in Annex VI and IUCLID 5 file is
provided in Table 3.
When filling the technical dossier (using IUCLID 5) the registrant has to remember that this is
closely linked to the assessment of the substance and that some parts (e.g. hazard assessments) of
the chemical safety assessment might have been performed even for substances below 10 tonnes per
year (See also section 1.3).
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Table 3 Relation between information required under Article 10 and the corresponding sections in Annex VI and IUCLID 5 file
8The dossier header consists of information which is going to be used for administrative purposes and it is completed
by the applicant when preparing his dossier from the substance data sets.
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when appropriate the information about location of registrant’s production and own use site(s). If
the registrant has appointed a third party representative, the identity and the contact details of this
representative should also be included under this section of the technical dossier.
In case of a joint submission the lead registrant has to identify himself but also all the other
registrants who are part of the joint submission (see also section 1.8.4). The same applies to the
other registrants who have to identify themselves in their technical dossier but also the lead
registrant who submits the technical information on their behalf.
The registrant also needs to submit under this section of IUCLID 5 all the information required in
the technical dossier dealing with the identification of the substance as referred to in Article
10(a)(ii) and section 2 of Annex VI.
A substance is identified by its chemical identity, molecular and structural formula, chemical
composition and content of each constituent in the substance. Required information listed in section
2 of Annex VI shall be documented as far as possible including the information on the substance, its
composition, degree of purity, nature of impurities and information on the analytical methods.
In section 1.3 of IUCLID the inquiry or pre-registration number should be filled in the regulatory
programme identifiers.
The identification step is an essential part for REACH registration and the registrant should consult
the Guidance on substance identification in order to clearly identify and name their substance
appropriately. The step of gathering information on the identity of the substance should be done
early in the registration process at the level of the pre-registration or inquiry steps. Therefore the
registrant should have all the information required in the technical dossier and should be able to fill
all the required fields in IUCLID 5. Guidance is given in section 8 of the Guidance on substance
identification.
The registrant has to determine the classification and labelling of his substance with respect to
physico-chemical properties, environment and human health.
The final Classification and Labelling decision should be documented within section 2 of IUCLID 5
as well as the rationale for non classification when this is the case. The rationale for the decision for
a classification can be clearly documented in each of the relevant endpoint summary sections. For
example the classification for the environment should be justified under the endpoint summary for
ecotoxicological information, the classification for physico-chemical properties and human health
should be justified under the relevant endpoint summary (e.g. under acute toxicity, flammability,
etc.). For more guidance on where information on classification and labelling should be provided
section E.2 of the Guidance on IUCLID should be consulted.
All references to classification and labelling terminology, criteria and Directives are going to be
amended as soon as the new EU regulation, implementing the Globally Harmonised System (GHS)
for classification and labelling, is entering into force. This is foreseen to happen in 2008.
To ensure that hazard classifications and labelling of dangerous substances are available to all
stakeholders and the general public, the Agency will record the classification and labelling proposed
in the registration dossier within the classification and labelling inventory established and
maintained by the Agency. The Classification and Labelling inventory will contain the
classification of all substances subject to registration as well as of all substances within the scope of
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Directive 67/548/EEC which meet the criteria for classification of that Directive and which are
placed on the market (Article 112).
It is recommended that registrants, before classifying their substance consult Annex I of Directive
67/548/EEC (where all harmonised classification and labelling of dangerous substances have been
listed) as well as the classification and labelling inventory in order to check if their substance is
already listed. If already listed in Annex I of Directive 67/548/EEC (and therefore harmonised at
Community level) they should follow this harmonised classification. If already listed in the
inventory but not in Annex I of Directive 67/548/eec, they should make every effort to harmonise
their classification with other registrants, potential registrants having pre-registered and other
notifiers of the classification and labelling of the same substance.
Information on the manufacture and use(s) of the substance as mentioned under Article 10 (a)(iii)
and specified under section 3 of Annex VI shall be documented in section 3 of IUCLID 5.
The registrant has the possibility to record substantial amounts of information in IUCLID 5 file
regarding manufacture, use and exposure (e.g. technological processes, estimated quantities,
exposure and uses categories, wastes). It is up to the registrant to decide on the level of detail to
report, however all fields required under section 3 of Annex VI have to be filled.
If he knows that his tonnage is going to exceed the 1000 tonnes threshold in a near future, he
could choose to already register his substance in the ≥ 1000 tones per year tonnage band to
avoid a need to update his dossier. In this case he should report in IUCLID a tonnage higher
or equal to 1000 tonnes per year for 2013 which is the year of his registration.
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- Tonnage: total tonnage manufactured or imported in the form of substance on its own or in
preparations, including “intermediate” uses reported (see below). It should NOT include the
tonnage of the substance imported in articles. The information requirements will be based on
the “Tonnage- Intermediates(on-site) – Intermediates (transported)”
- Own use: tonnage which is used by the registrant. This should include both uses as an
intermediate and as a non- intermediate.
- intermediate (on-site): tonnage of the substance manufactured for use as on-site intermediate
under strictly controlled conditions (see the Guidance for intermediates)
- intermediates (transported): tonnage of the substance manufactured or imported and used as
intermediate under strictly controlled conditions.
Warning:
- if part of the tonnage is used for the purpose of PPORD, if it is covered by a PPORD
notification it should not be included here. If it is not covered by a PPORD notification it
should be included here and included in the tonnage used for the determination of the
information requirement.
For the tonnage of the substance imported in articles, the information should be reported in “3.4
Form in the supply chain”. The tonnage to be reported here should only take into account the
tonnage of the substance in articles where the substance is intended to be released (for more
guidance, see Guidance for articles). If the substance is intended to be released and is not already
registered for that use, then it should be registered. If the substance is also manufactured or
imported on its own or in a preparation by the registrant, the registrant should cover the use(s) of
the substance in article(s) in his registration dossier. If the registrant only imports the substance in
article where it is intended to be released, and has not been able to find a registration by other
registrants covering his use(s), the information requirement will be based on the tonnage of the
substance imported in articles where it is intended to be released (reported in section 3.4 of IUCLID
5).
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More guidance on the required level of detail and on when it is recommended to provide a complete
robust study summary or just a study summary is described below.
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8.2.2.6.1 Guidance on when to provide a robust study summary or a study summary when
filling the technical dossier with information on each specific endpoint
A robust study summary should reflect the objectives, methods, results and conclusions of a full
study report. The information included must be provided in sufficient detail to allow a technically
qualified person to make an independent assessment of its reliability and completeness –
minimising the need to go back to the full study report. Furthermore, it should contain sufficient
information to determine whether the right key study(ies) has been chosen for an endpoint.
It is required to provide robust study summaries only for information derived from the application
of Annexes VII to XI if required under Annex I in the technical dossier (Article 10 (a)(vii)). Robust
study summaries need to be provided in the technical dossier only when a chemical safety report is
required, therefore only for substances above 10 tonnes per year, and only for key studies (Article
10 (a)(vii)). However, it is recommended to provide robust study summaries in the technical dossier
for all key studies including for substances manufactured and produced at less than 10 tonnes per
year as this would facilitate the evaluation work made by the Agency and eventually Member States
in the frame of substances evaluation and may eventually avoid them to request further information.
In addition there might be cases where it could be useful to provide robust study summaries for non
key studies. For example, in case the key study is not the one giving rise to the highest concern it
might be useful to prepare a robust study summary for this study as well as for all the studies
demonstrating a higher concern, or at least to report sufficient information to justify the disregard of
these results so that the choice of the key study is better justified.
For all other available studies, used as supporting information in the assessment of the substance,
only a study summary needs to be provided in the technical dossier as for these studies less details
are necessary. It is nevertheless very important that the reasons why the study has not been selected
as a key study are reported, especially in case of higher concern.
Substances may have more than one study available for an endpoint and among these studies more
than one might be adequate. The registrant might therefore encounter one or more of the situations
described in the following Figure 6.
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no
Adequate study(ies) available ? Less reliable studies
yes
One adequate study available ? More than one adequate study available?
Robust study summary for the key Robust study summary with full description of methods for all studies used
study and only study summary with as part of the Weight of Evidence (WoE)
minimum level of details for
supporting information
Figure 6 Decision tree on when to document a study with a robust study summary or a study summary
It is reasonable to expect that there will be cases where several inadequate or less adequate data on
a given REACH endpoint may exist.
It has to be underlined that when using a weight of evidence approach there might be cases where
several less adequate/reliable studies on a given endpoint may exist (tests not performed in
accordance with the test methods referred to in Article 13(3) for example). If a rationale can be
presented to show that such tests adequately describe the endpoint of concern, a further test for that
particular endpoint may not be necessary. For example there may be several repeated dose studies
available on a chemical, none of which would be acceptable by itself due to some deficiency (e.g.
small group sizes, insufficient number of dose groups, insufficient parameters, etc). Collectively,
however, the different studies show effects in the same target organ at approximately the same dose
and time.
• Only one adequate (reliable and relevant) study is available on the endpoint assessed.
When only one adequate study is available this is the key study and a robust study summary
should be provided. The studies considered as less adequate (e.g. studies for which the
reliability is considered as lower than the reliability of the key study but which is nevertheless a
valid study) should nevertheless be documented as supporting information or as part of the
available information but for these the registrant only needs to provide less detailed study
summaries.
• More than one adequate study is available on the endpoint assessed.
When several adequate studies are available there might be more than one key study. The
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studies available can be used as part of a weight of evidence approach (see also the Guidance on
information requirements - chapter 5 for general information and chapter 7 for information on
specific endpoints). The use of a weight of evidence approach is common practice when more
than one study is available on an endpoint. This might be particularly useful in the following
cases:
¾ There is more than one adequate study but with conflicting information available as well as
other less adequate studies.
In that case it is highly recommended to prepare robust study summaries for all studies used
as part of the weight of evidence approach even for those less adequate studies.
¾ There is more than one adequate study in which different species were tested or different
exposure routes were used.
In this case more than one study can be considered as key study to be used in the
assessment. In this case it is very useful to prepare a robust study summary for each of these
studies to facilitate the understanding of the choices made in the evaluation.
¾ Only studies considered as less adequate/reliable are available
In case where the available information is individually considered as not completely
adequate, the registrant might nevertheless consider that by using a weight of evidence
approach the information is sufficient for the intended purpose. In that particular situation a
robust study summary should be prepared for each study used as part of the weight of
evidence approach.
8.2.2.6.2 Further recommendation on when to provide robust study summaries for non key
studies
As stated in section 8.2.2.1 the level of detail needed to be reported in IUCLID depends on each
situation. In the two situations described below it is recommended to report information on the
study with a significant amount of detail.
• When the study is performed according to non-standard protocols
For studies not performed according to standard protocols it is recommended to provide a robust
study summary to allow the evaluation of the specific conditions used during testing. The
summary should in particular give enough information and highlight points that justify the
choice of this protocol rather than a standard protocol as well as sufficient information regarding
the adaptations made due to the intrinsic properties of the substance. This is particularly relevant
for substances requiring special considerations during testing (see Guidance on information
requirements, section 5.2.2) that often need specific adaptation of testing protocols.
• When the study gives ambiguous results
Sometimes tests performed according to accepted guidelines might give ambiguous results for
which more explanations might be needed (e.g. tests without clear dose-response relationship). In
such cases it is recommended to give the necessary information particularly if this study is to be
used in the hazard assessment of the substance.
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For each endpoint the registrant has to fill the endpoint study record. Moreover it is strongly
recommended that when available the registrant should also fill the endpoint summary in IUCLID 5
as detailed below.
9 In IUCLID the user can select in the “Purpose flag” filed in the section on “Administrative data”, whether it is a key
study, a supportive study or a weight of evidence approach. If it is neither of those, nothing should be selected for this
field.
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noted that information included in the endpoint summaries in IUCLID 5 can be automated extracted
to generate specific sections of the chemical safety report.
The registrant has to report information required under section 5 of Annex VI in section 11 of
IUCLID 5 file and this information must be consistent with the information in the Safety Data Sheet
(SDS), where an SDS is required. More information on the level of information needed in the SDS
and therefore in this section is available under Annex II (Guide to the compilation of Safety Data
Sheets). Furthermore it is recommended to follow in-house current practices or guidance to make
SDS when filling this section of the technical dossier.
In case the CSR contains exposure scenarios the latter need to be annexed to the SDS. The
information on safe use in the ES, in the technical dossier and in the SDS has to be consistent. The
same applies to the summary of the physico-chemical properties hazard assessment, the summary of
the environmental hazard assessment, environmental fate as well as the calculated PNECs, the
summary of the human health hazard assessment as well as the calculated DNELs, and, if the
substance is considered PBT/vPvB to the report on PBT/vPvB properties as required under Article
31 in the SDS (see section 1.2.3.2).
8.2.2.8 Others
Review by an assessor
Further information shall also be provided in the technical dossier as referred to in Article 10. This
relates particularly to the need to highlight in the technical dossier if the information submitted
under (iii), (iv), (vi), (vii) or subparagraph (b) has been reviewed by an assessor chosen by the
manufacturer or importer and having appropriate experience as referred to in Article 10 (viii). This
must be recorded in the dossier header in IUCLID 5.
Confidential information
The registrant has the possibility in IUCLID 5 to flag as confidential all sections or endpoint study
records or any other information mentioned in Article 119 (2)(containing the list of information that
would normally be made publicly available by the Agency over the Internet). This should be done
by filling the “Confidentiality and regulatory purpose flags” in the “Administrative data" section of
all study records. The user has three options if he wants to keep the data confidential:
1. CBI (confidential business information): the data must not be provided to other companies
or disseminated to the public.
2. IP (intellectual property): the data should only be provided to other companies when they
are trusted (e.g. consortia or with letter of access); the data must not be disseminated to the
public.
3. no PA (not public available): the data can be provided to other companies, but must not be
disseminated to the public.
However, a clear justification must be provided to allow the Agency to accept this information as
confidential and this should be described in the available “justification” field in the “Confidentiality
and regulatory purpose flags”. It should be clear however that this applies only to information listed
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under Article 119(2) and that all information mentioned in Article 119 (1) shall be made publicly
available in any case. For information not mentioned in Article 119, Article 118 as well as the rules
on access to documents (Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001) apply.
Registrants are entitled to claim confidentiality for information not to be disclosed on the Agency’s
website pursuant to Article 119 (2) against fee payment (Article 74 (3)). As this claiming of
confidentiality is part of compiling a registration dossier, IUCLID 5 is build in such a way that
industry can flag all 7 items (a – g) listed in Article 119 (2) (see also section 1.8.2).
For substances manufactured or imported at 10 tonnes or more per year, the registrant needs to
submit as part of his registration dossier a Chemical Safety Report (CSR), as described in section
1.8.1. The Chemical Safety Report is a stand alone document which will be attached in section 13
of IUCLID “Assessment reports” to the registration dossier and will contain partly information that
should already have been reported in the technical dossier. The structure of IUCLID 5 gives the
possibility to extract information already included in the technical dossier, e.g. within the endpoint
summaries, to build automatically some parts of the chemical safety report. A format for the
reporting of the CSR is available in Annex I.
The CSR is the document reporting the Chemical Safety Assessment (CSA). Therefore, to prepare
this CSR the registrant has to perform a CSA and for this:
• Perform and document hazard assessments in the relevant reporting format
• the human health hazard assessment
• the physicochemical hazard assessment
• the environmental hazard assessment
• the PBT/vPvB assessment
If the substance is classified as dangerous in accordance with Directive 67/548/EEC or assessed to
be a PBT/vPvB in accordance with the criteria in Annex XIII then the registrant has to:
• Perform and document the exposure assessment including exposure scenarios
• Perform and document the risk characterisation
A specific guidance on how to do a chemical safety assessment is available in the Guidance on the
Chemical Safety Report and should be consulted by registrants. Several tools are available or will
be developed to perform the chemical safety assessment and generate the chemical safety report.
Some of these tools are listed in the Guidance on the Chemical Safety Report.
The different steps of this CSA are repeated here although the assessment should have been done
earlier in the process, while preparing the technical dossier.
The assessment starts with the assessment of physicochemical, human health and environmental
hazard. In addition, the registrant has also to assess if the substance is persistent, bioaccumulative
and toxic (PBT) or very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB).
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As mentioned previously the hazard assessments should be performed on the basis of all available
and relevant information which should be reported in the technical dossier. The registrant should
rely particularly on the key studies identified in the technical dossier for the relevant endpoints. In
addition to these key studies, information available in other studies could also be used by the
registrant as supporting information or as part of a weight of evidence approach as described before
in the guidance.
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A summary of the different effects on the environmental targeted compartments (aquatic, terrestrial,
atmospheric and micro-organisms of the sewage treatments systems) shall be reported in section 7
of the CSR on the basis of the information available in the technical dossier under the relevant
IUCLID 5 endpoint study record. The result of the assessment, once finalised, should also be
reported under the relevant endpoint summaries in IUCLID 5 as well as the calculated PNECs
values.
In addition to information on potential effects on the environment, the registrant has also to
document the environmental fate (e.g. degradation, bioaccumulation) of the substance under section
4 of the CSR as this information is used, for example, when determining the classification and
labelling of the substance or for exposure assessment.
8.2.3.1.4 Persistent bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT)/ very persistent and very
bioaccumulative (vPvB) assessment
The objective of the PBT/vPvB assessment is to determine if the substance fulfils the criteria given
in Annex XIII and if so, to characterise the potential emissions of the substance. Guidance on how to
perform a PBT/vPvB assessment is available within the Guidance on the Chemical Safety Report.
Relevant information regarding the Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic (PBT) properties of the
substance should be already available in the CSR under respectively sections 4 for Persistence and
Bioaccumulation and 5 and 7 for Toxicity. The registrant should then be consistent with what is
written under these sections when performing the PBT/vPvB assessment. In addition further
information, like monitoring data might also be useful (as described in the Guidance on the
Chemical Safety Report).
The conclusion of the PBT, vPvB assessment should be reported in section 8 of the CSR. If at the
end of the assessment the substance is assessed to be PBT/vPvB, an emission characterisation shall
be performed and reported as well under section 8 of the CSR.
When the result of the hazard assessments indicates that the substance meets any criteria for
classification as dangerous (in accordance with Directive 67/548/EEC) or is assessed to be a PBT or
vPvB (in accordance with criteria in Annex XIII) the registrant shall perform an exposure
assessment.
The exposure assessment consists of determining quantitatively or qualitatively the
dose/concentrations of the substance to which humans and the environmental are or may be
exposed. The exposure assessment includes two steps:
1) Generation of exposure scenario(s)
2) Exposure estimation
An exposure scenario is a set of conditions that describe how a substance (as such, in a preparation
or in an article) is manufactured or used during its life-cycle and how the manufacturer or importer
or downstream user controls or recommends controlling exposure of humans and the environment.
It must include the appropriate risk management measures and operational conditions that, when
properly implemented, ensure that the risks from the uses of the substance are adequately
controlled.
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These exposure scenarios are the output of the iterative CSA. For more guidance how to develop
exposure scenarios and perform exposure estimation please consult the Guidance on the Chemical
Safety Report.
The exposure assessment has to be reported in section 9 of the CSR.
The risk characterisation is the final step in the chemical safety assessment where it should be
determined whether risks arising from manufacture/import and uses of the substance are adequately
controlled. The registrant shall compare no effect levels (DNELs) and predicted no effect
concentrations (PNECs) with calculated exposure concentrations to human and the environment
respectively. The risk characterisation consists also of the assessment of the likelihood and severity
of an event occurring due to physico-chemical properties of the substance and a qualitative or
quantitative estimation/description on the uncertainties related to the risk assessment. Guidance on
how to characterise risk is available in the Guidance on the Chemical Safety Report.
This step shall be carried out for each exposure scenarios for both the human health and the
environment and the results and discussion reported in section 10 of the CSR. As the purpose is to
prove that the risks are adequately controlled it is expected that the results of the risk
characterisation should not indicate a risk in the CSR.
In case the registration dossier is created as being part of a joint submission the content of the
dossier of the lead registrant will differ from that of the other registrant(s). The dossier should
nevertheless be prepared in the same way following the guidance given in section 8.2. The Use
Case 4 described in section D.1. of the Guidance on IUCLID concerns the compilation of substance
dataset intended to be used for a joint submission dossier. Section E.1.5. of that guidance relates to
Joint submission and section D.8.2.6 to the creation of a joint submission dossier.
As explained in section 1.8.4.1 the lead registrant should include in his registration dossier all the
information that should be shared with all other registrants as well as of the information that he
needs to submit personally. This means that his registration dossier should contain
1. all study records which are relevant to any of the registration dossiers of the other
registrants and which have been agreed on, as well as
2. the study records which should be included in the lead registrant’s dossier and which are not
already included in point 1.
To prepare his dossier the lead registrant should select the regular template in IUCLID (based on
the tonnage band, see Table 2.)
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All other registrants’ part of the joint registration should include in their registration dossier the
information
• that they have to submit separately or that they choose to submit separately (this pertains to
information on the identity of each legal entity, the substance identity, information on the
manufacture and on the use(s) of the substance including tonnage as well as some exposure
information for substances registered in quantities of 1 to 10 tonnes, see section 8.1 of the
Guidance on data sharing for the details)
• for which they have opted out from the joint registration. More guidance on opting-out is
available in section 8.4 of the Guidance on data sharing.
To prepare their registration dossier, the members of a joint submission have to select the specific
template in IUCLID for members of a joint submission (see Table 2.). By doing so all the endpoint
study records included in the substance data set will, by default, not be included in the dossier. In
case of opt out, the registrant will have to specifically indicate which study records he wants to
include in his dossier. Inclusion of a study record in the registration dossier of a member of a joint
submission is automatically interpreted as an opt-out from the joint registration. The registrant
should also indicate in his dossier header that he has opted out.
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The information submitted in the registration dossier to the Agency will have to be kept up-to-date.
It is the responsibility of the registrant to update their registration dossier when needed. There are
basically two types of situations where a registrant needs to update his registration and re-submit it
to the Agency:
− update on the registrant's own initiative
The registrants are required to inform, without undue delay, the Agency about new relevant
available information (e.g. new tonnage band) on the registered substance or on his registration
dossier (Article 22(1)) and therefore to submit an updated version of the registration dossier.
Any change in already submitted information such as the registrant’s identity should also be
submitted in an update of the registration dossier.
− update as a consequence of a decision made by the Agency or the Commission
The registrant has to update his registration as a consequence of the Agency or Commission
decision under the evaluation procedure but also, when relevant, following any decision made
in accordance with Article 60 (Granting of authorisation) and Article 73 (Commission decision
on Restrictions). These updates have to be performed within the deadline specified by the
Agency/Commission in the decision.
Moreover, according to Article 20(6) whenever additional information for a particular substance is
submitted to the Agency by a new registrant, the Agency is responsible to notify the existing
registrants that this information is available on the database. As a consequence the registrant has to
take this information into account and if relevant update his registration dossier.
For substances regarded as registered because a notification according to Directive 67/548/EEC has
been submitted, updating of registration dossiers needs to be performed if the quantity reaches the
next tonnage threshold as defined in Article 12 (cf. Article 24).
There is no requirement to update a registration dossier (Article 16(2)) for substances in plant
protection and biocidal products (Article 15).
An update shall be accompanied by the relevant part of the fee required in accordance with the
Commission Regulation on fees and charges payable to the European Chemicals Agency, as
required by Title IX Fees and charges.
New relevant information prepared either on the registrant's own initiative or in response to a
request by the authorities has to be communicated by updating the registration dossier and
submitting it to the Agency. Once such an update is submitted to the Agency it has to undergo a
completeness check within three weeks of the submission date. For more details on completeness
check process see section 7.2.
As soon as the updated registration dossier is available in the Agency data base, the Agency should
inform the relevant Member State Competent Authority about the update (Articles 22(1), 22(2)).
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Manufacture/import may continue if there is no indication to the contrary from the Agency within 3
weeks after the submission of the registration update (Article 21(1)).
A registrant is responsible on his own initiative for updating his registration dossier without undue
delay with relevant new information and resubmitting it to the Agency. The following cases are
identified in Article 22(1). Further interpretation and guidance is given below for each case when
appropriate.
a) Any change in his status, such as being a manufacturer or an importer or a producer of articles,
or in his identity, such as his name or address
This requires that any changes in the status of the registrant as well as any change related to the
registrant’s contact details, appointed contact person(s) and location of the registrant’s
production and own use site(s) should trigger update of the registration dossier.
b) Any change in the composition of the substance as given in section 2 of Annex VI
Section 2 of Annex VI addresses what information is useful to identify each substance. Section 2.3
specifies the information on the composition of the substance. If the composition of the substance
changes, e.g. due to a change of process, this should be reported to the Agency. It is important that
the registrant evaluates whether the change on the composition of its substance has some influence
on its properties (being, physico-chemical properties or fate or hazard properties).
Further guidance on when a change in for example the degree of purity would trigger an update is
available in Guidance on substance identification.
(Number the indents below 2.3.1-2.3.7)
• Degree of purity (%),
• Nature of impurities, including isomers and by-products,
• Percentage of (significant) main impurities,
• Nature and order of magnitude (…ppm, … %) of any additives (e.g. stabilising agents or
inhibitors), and other information why are changed.
• Spectral data (ultra-violet, infra-red, nuclear magnetic resonance or mass spectrum)
• High-pressure liquid chromatogram, gas chromatogram
• Description of the analytical methods or the appropriate bibliographical references for the
identification of the substance and, where appropriate, for the identification of impurities
and additives. This information shall be sufficient to allow the methods to be reproduced.
c) Changes in the annual or total quantities manufactured or imported by the registrant or in the
quantities of substances present in articles produced or imported by the registrant, if these
result in a change of tonnage band, including cessation of manufacture or import
As soon as the volume of a registered substance is reaching a higher tonnage band, the
information requirements of the registration dossier change, i.e. at 10, at 100 and at 1000 tonnes
per year the registrant has to inform the Agency of the change(s) in the quantities (Article 22 (1)
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(c) as well as the additional information that he would require to comply with the information
requirements for the new tonnage level (Article 12(2)).
d) New identified uses and new uses advised against for which the substance is manufactured or
imported
If a downstream user informs the registrant about a new use of the substance, not identified in
the registration dossier, there might be two situations:
• If the registrant has registered in a tonnage band starting at 10 tonnes per year and
therefore is required to make a chemical safety report (CSR), he can assess the chemical
safety for this use, and include that use in his chemical safety report if the results of the
chemical safety assessment indicates that risks to human health and the environment from
that use are adequately controlled. He will then, when relevant, provide the downstream
user with a revised SDS, including the new use as well as the exposure scenarios
describing the operational conditions for which the substance can be used safely. If on the
basis of the chemical safety assessment he is unable to include that new identified use for
reasons of human health or environmental protection, he shall provide the Agency in
writing with the reason for this decision. The registrant can consider to update the SDS
indicating the use(s) advised against, if he deems this of importance.
• If the registrant has registered in a tonnage band less than 10 tonnes per year, he has no
obligation to perform a chemical safety assessment. However he may decide to include or
not the new use(s) in the SDS.
In both situations the registrant needs to update his registration to take into account the new
identified use.
It can also be the case that the registrant has to take into account a new own use or that he
himself decides to identify a new use that his downstream user(s) are or may be interested in.
Therefore, if the ‘new’ use is covered by an ES that is already included in the registrant's CSR
(and annexed to a SDS) the registrant does not need to update his registration even if the 'brief
general description of use' in accordance with section 3.5 of Annex VI does not exactly
correspond to that use.
e) New knowledge of the risks of the substance to human health and/or the environment of which
the registrant may reasonably be expected to have become aware which leads to changes in the
safety data sheet or the chemical safety report
If the registrant becomes aware of information that could lead to other or different risks for the
human health or the environment caused by the substance he manufacture or import, such as
monitoring data in the environment or epidemiological studies, he needs to take those data into
account and evaluate the appropriateness of the risk management measures put in place or
recommended down the supply chain.
New information triggering a revision of the chemical safety assessment or the safety data sheet
could also be international review such as IPCS review or OECD SIDS, or any kind of
publication dealing with the release and exposure or hazard of the substance.
Even if the initial registration has been completed accurately there will be an on-going need to
update CSA/CSR or SDS. There are various triggers for the need to update the CSA or SDS and
thus the Registration Dossier such as:
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• Ongoing obligation: regularly screen data bases for new substance information that would
change the results of the CSA.
• New or additional study reports become available that would change hazards or have
identified new hazards.
For example where a substance has been identified as a substance of a very high concern and
included in the candidate list for eventual inclusion in Annex XIV, the registrants of such
substance may need to consider to update their registration dossier to take this fact into account
if they did not previously do so.
f) Any change in the classification and labelling of the substance
Any registrant is required to submit to the Agency classifications for all substances subject to
registration.
In cases, where a harmonised classification and labelling has been adopted in accordance with
Article 115, the registration dossier needs to be updated accordingly.
Furthermore, any manufacturer, producer of articles or importer who places a substance on the
market must (independent of the quantity for classified substances) notify to the Agency
information on identity of the substance and information on the hazard classification of the
substance, including labelling and specific concentration limits. The Agency will collate all this
information on classification and labelling into a publicly available classification and labelling
inventory. This inventory will indicate the relevant registration number(s) and whether the
classifications submitted by different registrants or notifiers differ. In the latter case, the
registrants and notifiers are required to make every effort to come to an agreed classification,
and update their registrations/notifications as appropriate (Guidance on C&L notification will be
developed separately).
Moreover each registrant also has an obligation to update his registration dossier in light of any
other new data relevant to the classification.
g) Any update or amendment of the chemical safety report or section 5 of Annex VI (Guidance on
safe use concerning)
Apart from the reasons mentioned in the previous points there may be a need to update
CSA/CSR due to i.e.:
• Innovation in the supply chain.
• New products and applications.
• New equipment and processes (conditions of use) at the DU.
Moreover an update of the CSR may be triggered by an increase of the production and/or
import.
Above mentioned needs for updating CSA/CSR should be identified internally by the
manufacturer or importer, by the downstream user or Agency/MS. Although the need for
updating CSA/CSR may result from the information from down the supply chain, the M/I has
the choice whether to support any reported revisions to the CSR:
• If the changes are supported the CSR and any existing SDS (and/or other downstream
information) are revised and if necessary the registration dossier is updated.
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• If the manufacturer or importer decides not to support the revisions, the original source of
the information should be informed so they can take appropriate action and the reasons for
advising against that unsupported conditions of use should be specified in section 16 of the
SDS and the Agency must be informed in writing of those reasons. Moreover, the
registration must be updated by including the non supported use under the heading uses
advised against (Article 37(3)).
h) The registrant identifies the need to perform a test listed in Annex IX or Annex X, in which cases
a testing proposal shall be developed
In case when the higher level studies are not required by the legislation due to i.e. lower tonnage
band, in some cases such studies still might be necessary in the opinion of the registrant in order
to adequately control the risks arising from the manufacture and use(s) of the substance.
In case when the registrant identifies the need to perform the higher level study listed in
Annexes IX and X, he will have to submit to the Agency an update of registration dossier
including the testing proposal for this test.
i) Any change in the access granted to information in the registration
Encouraging registrants to share data in order to save resources and avoid unnecessary
repetition of the animal tests it is very important to keep up-to-date information about ownership
and permission to use of the relevant data.
This point is especially relevant in light of the joint submission of information. In joint
submission of information the lead registrant should submit the full set of data on behalf of the
whole group of registrants who are all registering the same substance while all the others should
in their own separate registrations submit only limited a set of information, while referring to
the lead registration for the rest of the information. To “protect” his submission on behalf of all
registrants, the lead registrant is obliged to update his lead registration whenever there is a
change in the composition of the group of registrants covered by the joint submission or
whenever there is any change in the right of access granted to the other registrants to
information in the lead registration.
The registrant has to update his registration as a consequence of the Agency or Commission
decision under the Evaluation Title, or to take into account decisions made in accordance with
Article 60 (Granting of authorisation) and Article 73 (Commission decision on Restrictions). This
task has to be performed within the deadline specify by the Agency/Commission in the decision.
a) Evaluation procedures
There are two main types of evaluation procedures, a substance evaluation and a dossier evaluation.
The latter is further subdivided into an examination of any testing proposal and a compliance check
of the registration dossier. The decisions taken under the provision of this Title that can have an
impact on the updating obligations of registrants will be analysed below:
In the examination of testing proposals, all proposals for tests specified in Annexes IX and X
submitted as part of registrations have to be examined by the Agency within certain timelines. The
examination of testing proposal by the Agency could trigger the need for the registrant to update the
registration dossier when a decision requesting one or several tests to be carried out is taken by the
Agency or the Commission. For more details see the Guidance on evaluation.
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All tests carried out based on a decision of the Agency under Article 40 (Examination of testing
proposals) have to be submitted in a form the study summary, or the robust study summary if
required by Annex I in updated registration dossier. Moreover, depending on the outcome of the
new test conducted, the registrant may have to update the hazard profile of the substance and/or the
CSR including the ES.
In the compliance check, the Agency may examine any registration dossier in order to check
whether the registrant has met his obligations and the registration dossier complies with the
provisions of REACH, (for details on compliance check see the Guidance on evaluation).
As the outcome of the compliance check the Agency or the Commission can require the registrant
to submit, within a given time limit, any information needed to bring this registration into
compliance with the relevant information requirements. In response the registrant should update his
registration dossier, including the chemical safety report, with any additional information requested.
The substance evaluation aims to clarify a concern that a given substance constitutes a risk to
human health or the environment.
Substance evaluation provides a mechanism for authorities to require industry to obtain and submit
additional information in case of suspicion of a risk to human health or the environment. When the
competent authority considers that additional information is necessary for clarifying the suspicion,
the draft decision stating the reasons for this request will have to be prepared by it.
When a decision is taken by the Agency or the Commission, the registrant has to submit the
requested information by way of an update of his registration dossier to the Agency by the deadline
set. In the case of multiple registrants, they have to agree who is going to carry out testing on behalf
of all other registrants and to share the costs of testing equally.
b) Authorisation/Restrictions
If a substance is authorised through a Commission decision, the conditions for the authorisation
should be reflected in the registration dossier. As a consequence, the registration dossier will have
to be updated if it does not take into account these conditions already.
For a substance subjected to restriction, the registration dossier should reflect the relevant uses that
are exempted from restriction or the relevant conditions for use that are included in the restriction.
9.1.5 Update of registration dossier for substances regarded as being registered under
REACH
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should act as in an inquiry process (Article 26(3)) and should inform the registrant of the names and
addresses of the previous registrants and of any relevant study summaries already submitted by
them in order to share existing data and to ensure that studies on vertebrate animals are not
unnecessarily repeated, for more information on Inquiry see section 2.3and the Guidance on data
sharing.
Registrants of notified substances will also have to comply with all other REACH requirements and
provisions: for example, when submitting their update they will have to prepare a Chemical Safety
Report and to prepare Exposure Scenarios to attach to t heir Safety Data Sheet when relevant.
Apart from the update required when reaching the next tonnage threshold, the updates described
under sections 9.1.3and 9.1.4 above must also be submitted if and when relevant.
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Original text, February 2008 version Amended text, April 2008 version
• the substances do not undergo any form of treatment or processing • the substances do not undergo any form of treatment or processing
(including formulation, consumption, filling into containers, during their stay in the EU. For that purpose a free zone or a free
transfer from one container to another, mixing or production of warehouse on the EU territory is regarded as being part of the EU
an article) during their stay in the EU. For that purpose a free zone
or a free warehouse on the EU territory is regarded as being part of
the EU
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Only representantive
Chapter 1.5.3.4, 2nd last paragraph, page 23/24
Original text, April 2008 version Amended text, May 2008 version
The only representative can represent one or several “non- The only representative can represent one or several “non-Community
Community manufacturers”. As he is fulfilling the registration manufacturers”. If it acts on behalf of several “non-Community
obligations of importers, the tonnage of the substance to be manufacturers” it must submit a separate registration for each of these
registered is the total of the tonnages of the same substance covered substance manufacturers. The tonnage of the substance to be registered in
by the contractual agreements with him and all “non-Community each registration is the total of the tonnages of the substance covered by the
manufacturers” represented by him. The information requirement contractual agreements with the only representative and the specific “non-
for the registration dossier shall be determined according to this Community manufacturer” represented by him. The information
total tonnage. requirement for the registration dossier shall be determined according to
this tonnage. By making separate submissions, the confidential business
information of the “non-Community manufacturer” can be preserved and
equal treatment with EU manufacturers can be ensured (EU
manufacturers must submit separate registration dossiers for each legal
entity).
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Original text, April 2008 version Amended text, May 2008 version
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Original text, April 2008 version Amended text, May 2008 version
· <TYPE> is a 2-digit number giving the type · <TYPE> is a 2-digit number giving the type
of number: of number:
- 01 Registration - 01 Registration
- 02 C&L notification - 02 C&L notification
- 03 Substance in article - 03 Substance in article
- 04 PPORD - 04 PPORD
- 05 Pre-registration - 05 Pre-registration
- 06 Inquiry - 06 Inquiry
· <BASE- is a 7-digit number - 07 On-site isolated
NUMBER> intermediates
· is a 2-digit number - 08 Transported on-site
<CHECKSUM> isolated intermediates
- 09 Data holder
notification
· <BASE- is a 10-digit number
NUMBER>
· is a 2-digit number
<CHECKSUM>
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Only representantive
Chapter 1.5.3.4, What are the tasks of the only representative, page 23/24
Original text, May 2008 version Amended text, September 2008 version
What are the tasks of the only representative? What are the tasks of the only representative?
An only representative is fully liable for fulfilling all obligations of An only representative is fully liable for fulfilling all obligations of
importers for the substances he is responsible for as a registrant. These importers for the substances he is responsible for as a registrant. These
do not only pertain to registration but also all other relevant obligations do not only pertain to registration but also all other relevant obligations
such as pre-registration, communication in the supply chain, such as pre-registration, communication in the supply chain,
notification of substances of very high concern (SVHC), classification notification of substances of very high concern (SVHC), classification
and labelling and any obligations resulting from authorisations or and labelling and any obligations resulting from authorisations or
restrictions etc. (see Art. 8(2)). restrictions etc. (see Art. 8(2)).
The only representative registers the imported quantities depending on The only representative registers the imported quantities depending on
the contractual arrangements between the “non-Community the contractual arrangements between the “non-Community
manufacturer” and the only representative. manufacturer” and the only representative.
The registration dossier of the only representative should comprise all
REACH does not distinguish between direct and indirect imports
uses of the importers (now downstream users) covered by the
into the EU and therefore such terms are not used in this guidance.
registration. The only representative shall keep an up-to-date list of EU
It is essential that there is a clear identification of:
customers (importers) within the same supply chain of the “non-
Community manufacturer” and the tonnage covered for each of these • who in the supply chain of a substance is the
customers, as well as information on the supply of the latest update of manufacturer, formulator or producer of an article;
the safety data sheet. • who has appointed the only representative;
For phase-in substances the only representative will have to pre- • which imports the OR has responsibility for.
register the substance in order to benefit from the extended registration
deadlines and will subsequently become participant of the Substance As long as the above conditions are met, it does not matter what
Information Exchange Forum (SIEF) (see section 3.4 of the Guidance are the steps or supply chain outside the EU between the
manufacturer, formulator or producer of an article and the
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APPENDIX 1 : ACRONYMS
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• Comply with any restrictions on manufacture, placing on the market and use of substances and
preparations as set out in Annex XVII.
• Apply for authorisation for use(s) of substances listed in Annex XIV.
(4) Producers of articles:
• Under some circumstances register substances in articles (tonnage trigger > 1 tonne/y per
producer). Comply with C&L, pre-registration and inquiry obligations if relevant.
• Keep the information submitted in the registration up-to-date
• Under some circumstances notify substances in articles (tonnage trigger > 1 tonne/y per
producer).
• When receiving SDS with ESs annexed for dangerous substances and preparations to be
incorporated into the articles:
3. If the use is covered by the ES, implement RMMs as set out in ES, or
4. If the use is not covered by the SDS annex, inform supplier of the use (i.e. make use known
with the aim to make it an identified use) and await new SDS with updated ES(s) or conduct
own chemical safety assessment and (if DU tonnage ≥ 1 tonne/y) notify the Agency.
• Implement those RMMs as set out in SDS for dangerous substances and preparations which are
applicable when incorporated into the articles.
• Conduct risk assessments and reduce risks for any chemical agent occurring at the workplace
(Directive 98/24/EC on chemical agents at work).
• Respond to any decision requiring further information as a result of the evaluation process
(only relevant for registered substances).
• Comply with any restrictions on manufacture, placing on the market and use of substances
and preparations as set out in Annex XVII.
• Use substances authorised for incorporation into the articles as set out in the authorisation or
apply for authorisation for use(s) of substances listed in Annex XIV.
(5) Importers of articles:
• Under some circumstances register substances in articles (tonnage trigger > 1 tonne/y per
producer). Comply with C&L, pre-registration and inquiry obligations if relevant.
• Keep the information submitted in the registration up-to-date
• Under some circumstances notify substances in articles (tonnage trigger > 1 tonne/y per
importer).
• Respond to any decision requiring further information as a result of the evaluation process
(only relevant for registered substances).
• Comply with any restrictions on manufacture, placing on the market and use of substances and
preparations as set out in Annex XVII.
• Apply for authorisation for use(s) of substances listed in Annex XIV.
(6) Downstream Users:
• Check if the substance is placed on the list of pre-registered substances published by the
Agency. If not, and considered relevant, ask the Agency to add the substance to the list
• In the case of having relevant data act as data holder in Substance Information Exchange Fora
(SIEF).
• Implement RMMs as set out in SDS.
• When receiving SDS with ESs annexed:
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1. If DU use is covered by the ES, implement RMMs as set out in ES annexes to SDS; or
2. If DU use is not covered by the SDS annex, inform supplier of the use (i.e. make use known
with the aim to make it an identified use) and await new SDS with updated ES(s) or conduct
own chemical safety assessment and (if DU tonnage ≥ 1 tonne/y) notify the Agency.
• Prepare and supply SDS(s) and recommend appropriate RMMs in them and annex ES(s) for
further downstream use.
• Prepare and supply information on non-classified substances as required by Article 32 to
further downstream users and distributors.
• Pass on new information directly to their suppliers on the hazard of the substance and
information that might call into question the RMM identified in the SDS for identified uses.
• Conduct risk assessments and reduce risks for any chemical agent occurring at the workplace
(Directive 98/24/EC on chemical agents at work).
• Respond to any decision requiring further information as a result of the evaluation of testing
proposals in downstream user reports.
• Comply with any restrictions on manufacture, placing on the market and use of substances and
preparations as set out in Annex XVII.
• Use authorised substances as set out in the authorisation (this info should be found in the
suppliers’ SDS) or apply for authorisation for use(s) of substances listed in Annex XIV.
• Notify about using an authorised substance to the Agency
II. Member States:
• Provide advice to manufacturers, importers, downstream users and other interested parties on
their respective responsibilities and obligations under REACH (competent authorities' help
desks).
• Conduct substance evaluation of prioritised substances listed in the Community Rolling Action
Plan. Prepare draft decisions.
• Suggest harmonised C&L for CMRs and respiratory sensitizers.
• Identify substances of very high concern for authorisation.
• Suggest restrictions.
• Nominate candidates to membership of Agency committees on risk assessment and socio-
economic analysis.
• Appoint member for “member state committee” to resolve divergences of opinion on
decisions following evaluation, consider proposals for harmonised classification and
labelling, and identify substances for authorisation.
• Provide adequate scientific and technical resources to the members of the Committees that
they have nominated.
• Appoint member to the “forum” and meet to discuss enforcement matters.
• Enforce REACH.
III. Agency:
Day to day management of technical, scientific and administrative aspects of REACH.
Responsibilities:
• Provide technical and scientific guidance and tools for the operation of REACH in particular to
assist the development of chemical safety reports by industry and especially by Small and
Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs).
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• Provide technical and scientific guidance on the operation of REACH for Member State
competent authorities and provide support to the competent authorities' help desks.
• Receive and check requests for research and development (PPORD) exemptions.
• Pre-registration:
1. Receive information and grant access to all manufacturers and importers who have
submitted information on one substance. When foreseen decide about conflicting issues.
2. Publish a list of pre-registered substance on the Agency website. Update the list on the
request of downstream users.
• Operate the rules on data-sharing for non-phase-in substances.
• Registration: check completeness, require completion of registration and reject incomplete
registrations.
• Evaluation:
1. Ensure a harmonised approach. Set priorities and take decisions.
2. Conduct dossier evaluation of registrations including testing proposals and other selected
registrations.
3. Substance evaluation: Propose draft Community rolling action plans, coordinate the
substance evaluation process.
4. Take decisions on testing proposals.
• Substances in articles: take decisions on notifications.
• Authorisation/restrictions: manage the process and provide opinions. Suggest priorities.
• Secretariat for forum and committees.
• Take decisions on access to submitted data.
• Publish certain specified data on a publicly accessible database.
• Deal with complaints and appeals - registration, R&D, evaluation, confidentiality, etc.
IV. Commission:
• Take decisions on further information needs under the evaluation process where there is no
unanimous agreement by Member States.
• Include substances into the authorisation system.
• Take decisions on granting or rejecting authorisations.
• Take decisions on restrictions.
• If decision making fails at the Agency take decisions on testing proposals
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V. All stakeholders including trade or industry associations, NGOs, and the public:
Note: The following are possibilities/options for stakeholders:
• Access to non-confidential information via the Agency website.
• Request access to information.
• Evaluation: submit scientifically valid, relevant information and studies addressed by the
testing proposal published on the Agency website.
• Authorisation:
1. Provide comments on substances which the Agency has proposed to be prioritised and on
uses which are to be exempted from the authorisation requirement.
2. Provide information on possible alternatives.
• Restrictions:
1. Provide comments on restriction proposals.
2. Provide socio-economic analysis for suggested restrictions, or information to contribute to
one.
3. Provide comments on draft opinions from Agency’s committee for risk assessment and
Committee for socio-economic analysis.
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