REACH - Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical

EMEA, European Medicine Evaluation Agency, regulates the drugs, biologicals and medical device for human and veterinary products. REACH, Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical,is the European Community Regulation on chemicals and their safe use (EC 1907/2006). It deals with the chemical substances. The law entered into force on 1 June 2007.

The aim of REACH is to improve and protect human health as well as environment through the better and earlier identification of the harmful properties of chemical substances. REACH also works on encourage innovation and competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry. The benefits of the REACH system will come gradually, as more and more substances are entered into REACH.

The REACH Regulation places control on industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide safety information on the chemical substances. Manufacturers and importers are required to submit the information on the properties of their chemical substances, which include their handling and to register the information in a central database run by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in Helsinki

The Regulation also demands for the advanced replacement of the most dangerous chemicals with the suitable alternatives. One of the main reasons for developing and adopting the REACH Regulation was that a large number of substances have been manufactured and placed on the market in Europe for many years, sometimes in very high amounts, and yet there is insufficient information on the hazards that they pose to human health and the environment. REACH regulations fulfil these information gaps to ensure that industry is able to assess hazards and risks of the substances, and to identify and implement the risk management measures to protect humans and the environment from the chemical exposures.