REACH Compliance

REACH EU Regulation and Compliance

Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and restriction of Chemicals (REACH) is one of the most comprehensive and far-reaching pieces of environmental legislation to come out of the European Union.
Third-party laboratory Testing allows you to verify compliance with the following requirements of REACH:

Annex XVII Restricted Substances

• 3 phthalates for toys and 6 phthalates for toys when the toy can be placed in the mouth by children
• AZO colorants in textiles
• Nickel release from metal products in direct contact with skin
• PCTs
• Benzene
• Asbestos fibres
• Arsenic compounds
• Mercury compounds
• Cadmium
• View full list

Candidate List of 49 SVHCs (Substances of Very High Concern)

There is a general 0.1% w/w (0.1% of total product weight) limit for each of the 49 SVHCs that applies to all product types. Substances of Very High Concern include

• Carcinogenic, Mutagenic or toxic to reproduction (CMR)
• Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic (PBT) or very Persistent and very Bioaccumulative (vPvB)
• Identified, on a case-by-case basis, from scientific evidence as causing probable serious effects to human health or the environment of an equivalent level of concern as those above (e.g. endocrine disrupters).

REACH Updates

Candidate List Extension

In December of 2015 five new substances* of very high concern (SVHCs) were added to the Candidate List which now contains 168 substances. The Candidate List includes substances that may have serious effects on human health or the environment. These five new substances may soon be moved to the Authorisation List which would make it necessary for industry to get permission before using any of these substances.

QIMA recommends all importers serving the EU test their products for SVHCs in order to show due diligence in complying with REACH regulations. QIMA Laboratory Testing can help you prepare, implement and comply with REACH regulations. Our testing services allow you to place your products with confidence on the targeted markets. To learn more about our testing services for a wide range of products, please complete the Need More Information form on the right.

* Nitrobenzene; 2,4-di-tert-butyl-6-(5-chlorobenzotriazol-2-yl)phenol(UV-327),2-(2H-benzotriazol-2-yl)-4-(tert-butyl)-6-(sec-butyl)phenol (UV-350); 1,3-propanesultone; Perfluoronan-1-oic-acid and its sodium and ammonium salts

ECHA News Release

Authorisation List Extension

On 18 February 2016 the public comment period for the eleven new substances* proposed for authorization by ECHA closed. ECHA will now take the public comments into consideration while drafting its recommendation for the European Commision. The Commission will then decide which of the substances to include in the Authorisation List and on the respective conditions applicable for each substance.

*Dihexyl phthalate and 1,2-benzendicarboxylic acid, dihexyl ester, branched and linear (plasticizer in PVC); HHPA and MHHPA (hardener for epoxy resins); Trixylyl phosphate (in lubricants, hydraulic fluids and plastics production); two boron compounds: sodium perborate; perboric acid, sodium salt and sodium peroxometaborate (in detergents and bleaching products); Four lead compounds: orange lead (lead tetroxide); lead monoxide (lead oxide); tetralead trioxide sulphate and pentalead tetraoxide sulphate (batteries and rubber production, in adsorbents)

ECHA News Release

13% of companies inspected by REACH missed some of their registration duties

According to a 10 December 2015 news release from ECHA, The REACH-EN-FORCE-3 2013-2014 project included the inspection of 1,169 companies and 5,746 substances in 28 countries. 13% of the companies inspected did not fulfill some of their registration obligations. The majority of the non-compliant companies failed with registration duties related to one or two substances from their portfolio. 2% of the companies had not registered any substances at all.

Don’t miss your registration duties. Hiring an experienced third party inspection company is the best way to ensure you are REACH compliant.

REACH Compliance

Testing with QIMA allows you to integrate your REACH testing during your product Inspection. Guarantee the sample is from your production, not a sample the factory wants you to test.

You will receive a detailed report informing you if your product passed or failed the REACH compliance test.

Further Reading

Understanding the EU’s REACH Requirements
RoHS Directive vs REACH Regulations Explained