On 27 February 2001 the Commission issued a White Paper on a Strategy for a future Chemicals Policy. This has subsequently been developed and extensively discussed with major stakeholders, resulting in the release on 29th Oct 2003 of the Commission's proposal (REACH).
Under REACH enterprises that manufacture or import more than one tonne of a chemical substance per year would be required to register it in a central database. REACH would furthermore give greater responsibility to industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide users in the supply chain with safety information on the substances.
The Commission plans consider the following phases until and after the entry into force of the REACH:
2004 - 2006 Interim period. During this period, starting after Commission adoption and continuing until the Regulation enters into force, different preparatory actions will take place in order to be able to effectively and efficiently administer the new chemicals legislation immediately when it enters into force.
2006 - 2008 Transition period (up to 18 months). The proposed Regulation (Article 130) foresees that the Commission shall fulfill the functions of the Agency during the period following the entry into force of the Regulation until these functions are transferred to the Agency
2008 Agency fully operational. According to Article 74 of the Regulation the Agency will be running the REACH system. |
