REACH chemicals regulation affects distribution

"Act instead of reacting", urges the German Fachverband der Bauelemente Distribution eV (FBDi eV), taking up a stance towards the new REACH chemicals regulation

The following is submitted by the FBDi eV.

With REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation of Chemicals), a new EU-wide chemicals regulation came into force from 1 June 2007.

The objective of this regulation is to make manufacturers and importers of chemicals assume the responsibility for the safe handling of their substances.

Directly affected by this regulation are also stakeholders further down the supply chain along with companies that import products made from such substances from non-EU states both within and outside Europe.

As such, REACH also affects to varying degrees the distributors of electronic components.

Due to the legal and technical complexity of this issue, the FBDI has found that a relatively unclear situation with regard to information prevails at present within the electronics industry.

Representing the interests of a large proportion of the German distribution landscape, the FBDI is calling for the greatest possible transparency of information along the supply chain and regards itself as being responsible for acting as an interface for information and expertise between manufacturers, its members and distribution customers.

The aim of the FBDI is, by taking specific proactive action, to avoid reactive measures along the supply chain and to establish a continuous flow of communication between the stakeholders involved.

In an initial step, the FBDI has set up its own REACH study group and promoted active dialogue with the manufacturers.

In connection with this, a discussion forum with manufacturers and distributors is also planned, in addition to a legal workshop for the FBDI members with leading legal experts.

By way of a practical approach to finding a solution, the FBDI is calling for a debate on the need for a standardised REACH database for the electronics industry.

To date, no uniformly regulated procedure is in place that enables companies to ascertain the degree to which they are affected.

Different information platforms provide comprehensive data entry forms, which however are primarily geared to chemical producers rather than the electronics industry.

For its members, the FBDI provides a fact sheet for downloading within the restricted members' section of the website (www.fbdi.de), which allows companies to gain an initial idea of the degree to which they are affected.

"At present, the reactions to REACH amongst manufacturers, distributors and distribution customers vary greatly.

Accordingly, the degree of enlightenment and the standard of knowledge on the topic also vary greatly.

Generally speaking, the quality management department within a company is entrusted with this task.

Some of our members are in the process of setting up their own in-house REACH database, whilst others prefer to wait entirely to see how the explosive nature of this topic further develops on the market", explains Wolfram Ziehfuss, Managing Director of FBDI eV.

FBDI sees one possible comprehensive approach to finding a solution within the electronics industry in establishing a standardised database with controlled data access for all the parties involved along the supply chain.

"To achieve this, however, it would be necessary for all the stakeholders involved in the supply chain to pull together, to provide comprehensive information and not to hide behind the smokescreen of corporate secrets or pending patent applications", says Ziehfuss.

* EU or non-EU as a key criterion.

The REACH regulation distinguishes between substances, preparations and products as well as between users, downstream users, manufacturers and importers (e.g dealers).

Under REACH, the typical distributor is regarded as a dealer who procures products.

If he procures his goods from EU states, he has no direct obligations under REACH.

He must assume that the products are manufactured in accordance with the legal regulations, i.e that the substances they contain have passed through the REACH procedure.

The situation is different when it comes to the procedure for products that originate from non-EU countries.

If the distributor procures goods from outside the EU, according to the REACH regulation, he is regarded as an importer.

According to article 7 of the REACH regulation, this may imply an obligation to register.

This article governs the registration and/or disclosure of substances in products.

REACH applies to all chemicals substances of at least one tonne or more in volume that are manufactured in or imported into the EU each year.

In the future, they must be registered at the newly founded European Chemicals Agency in Helsinki.

* Importer - and what happens next?.

According to article 7 section 1, an importer of products is obliged to register a substance if the substance contained in the imported products is equal in volume to one tonne or more in total per year and per importer and can be expected to be released under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use.

This obligation does not apply for substances, which have already been registered for the use in question.

Furthermore, various groups of substances and/or individual substances are exempt from the obligation to register, whilst REACH is not applicable for other substances, since they are already covered by other regulations.

The onus is on the importer to legally check whether, and if so which, obligations actually apply in individual cases.

* "Voluntary duty to supply information" creates transparency.

The information that the distributor is obliged to provide his customers with is also derived from the REACH regulation.

According to this, the distributor as the supplier of a product is only obliged to disclose information to his customers if the product he is dealing with contains substances with particularly worrying properties in parts over 0.1 percent.

In such cases, the FBDI recommends ensuring a transparent flow of information and issuing corresponding data sheets or "REACH certificates" from the manufacturers to the customers, provided that the information is made available by the manufacturers.

"It is precisely here that our members find an immense need for action on the manufacturer's side.

What we would like to see would be a declaration similar to that for RoHS, which both distributors and customers can inspect in order to ensure maximum transparency in the supply chain with regard to this issue", says Ziehfuss.

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