The REACH Regulation and the Cosmetics Industry
The European Union’s “REACH” Regulation (No 1907/2006) was published in 26 December 2006. REACH stands for the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals.
The basic principle of the Regulation is that industry is responsible for ensuring that substances contained in products do not adversely affect human health or the environment, under normal and reasonably foreseeable conditions of use.
The Regulation came into force on 1 June 2007 and applies to substances on their own, in preparations (such as cosmetics products) and in articles. It covers the manufacture and placing on the market of substances and preparations in Europe.
Its main requirements for chemicals are:
- Registration/pre-registration
- Evaluation of substances and of registration dossiers
- Authorisation of specific uses for substances of very high concern
- Restrictions for other substances of concern
- Communication within the supply chain and to the public
REACH establishes a European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) which manages the system. In some cases, technical, scientific and administrative work related to REACH are also entrusted to ECHA, which is located in Helsinki, Finland. One of ECHA’s most important roles is to develop, update and disseminate technical guidance on the various aspects of REACH.
Substance registration and pre-registration requirements in the Regulation have been in force since 1 June 2008.
Existing substances (referred to as “phase-in substances”), pre-registered between 1 June and 1 December 2008, benefit from extended deadlines for full registration (December 2010, June 2013 and June 2018 depending on annual tonnage bands for manufacture or imports per legal entity).
REACH is built on three principles:
- Industry, in the form of manufacturers, importers and downstream users, is responsible for ensuring that substances do not adversely affect human health or the environment
- The “no data, no market” principle
- The precautionary principle