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Data on substances

   
 

The aim of REACH (entered into force on 1 June 2007) is to improve the protection of human health and the environment through a better and earlier identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical substances and the knowledge of their uses.

The previous legislation distinguished “existing substances”, i.e. all chemicals declared to be on the market in September 1981 from “new substances”, i.e. those placed on the market since that date. Existing substances were not subject to the same information requirements as the new substances. As a consequence, there is at present a general lack of publicly available knowledge about the properties of these existing substances while they amount to more than 99% of the total volume of all substances on the market. Furthermore, downstream users were not required to provide information on uses. Therefore there is also a lack of information on exposures.

By 1 June 2018 – REACH provisions will have been phased-in over a period of 11 years – there will be a dossier, submitted by manufacturers and importers to the European Chemicals Agency, with information on intrinsic properties and uses, for each substance subject to registration. It should be noted that this process will be carried out with an effort to limit testing, especially testing on vertebrate animals. Specific mechanisms such as data sharing between registrants and the intensified resort to non testing methods have indeed been introduced by REACH.



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Prévention du risque chimique, France, 2007
This document is provided for information only and under no circumstances constitutes legal advice. The only authentic legal reference is the text of the REACH Regulation (Regulation (EC) n° 1907/2006).