BRUSSELS, December 1, 2010 – The first REACH deadline arrived at midnight yesterday. More than 24,000 dossiers have been submitted to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in Helsinki.

Implementing the first phase of REACH registration has taken a lot of hard work and represented a steep learning curve for the chemical industry. The industry had to tackle complex questions such as the organisation of Substance Information Exchange Forums (SIEFs), which required data and cost sharing, appointing lead registrants and issuing letters of access.

Cefic President Giorgio Squinzi commented: “Today’s deadline is an important step for the effective application of REACH. I want to thank EU organisations, particularly Vice President Antonio Tajani and Commissioner Janez Potočnik, for their collaborative approach and wish for cooperation to continue.

“We are already focusing on phase two, as we want REACH to become a success. All related existing and future chemicals legislation must be consistent and coherent with it.”

Cefic Director General Hubert Mandery added: “These registration figures for the first phase are evidence that the chemical industry is committed to making REACH work and has invested huge resources in meeting this first registration deadline.”

The first deadline is only a first step in a three-phase process, with the next two registration deadlines in 2013 and 2018.

Cefic has already been working on the next registration deadline of 2013 and will continue to support its member companies to meet this target. To date, the industry trade group has held an important role in serving its members throughout the REACH process. The organisation, which has 29,000 members, has been supporting companies by creating a number of tools for the chemical industry and the value chain, which include more than 30 technical guidance documents produced and accessible online, IT tools, and REACH implementation workshops with more 1000 participants. It even created a service company, ReachCentrum, which managed 105 consortia to support its members. In addition, Cefic was actively involved in the Directors’ Contact Group with the EU Commission and ECHA to manage the teething problems of REACH – Europe’s most complex regulation

Squinzi concluded: “We need REACH to become less burdensome and more workable as the next phases will be more difficult, especially for small- and medium-sized firms, and downstream users.”

For more information, contact James Pieper, media relations manager, Cefic, on +32 (0)2 676 7398 or at jpi@cefic.org.

Notes to editors:

About Cefic:

Cefic, the European Chemical Industry Council, is the Brussels-based organisation that represents the European chemicals industry. Created in 1972, it represents 29,000 companies that produce about a quarter of the world’s chemicals and employs around 1.2 million people. To learn more about Cefic, visit our Web site at www.cefic.org.

ends/all