Worldwide REACH
“Korean REACH”
The so called “Korean REACH”, the Act on the Registration and evaluation of Chemicals is currently in the status of a draft that was released on February 25th, 2011 in South Korea (from the Ministry of the Environment of Korea).
The act would amend the whole current Korean Toxic Chemicals Control Act and introduce many concepts similar to the European REACH regulation.
The key elements of the Korean REACH would be:
• Pre-Registration of priority chemicals
• Registration of new or priority chemicals (Manufacturers and importers)
• Evaluation of Chemicals
• Restrictions and authorization
• Categorization of chemicals into 7 groups
• Risk assessment for produced / imported volumes > 100t / year
• Communication in the supply chain
The evaluation of the Chemicals and the risk assessments would be the basis for following restrictions and authorizations.
“China REACH”
The Chinese REACH came into force on October 15th, 2010 and amended several Chinese legislations about chemicals and mixtures.
The key elements of the Chinese REACH are:
• Notification (Registration of the so called New chemical substances (NCS) that
are not listed in the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances Produces or
Imported in China (IECSC)
• Simplified notification for substances < 1 ton/year and for special groups like
intermediates, scientific research, etc.
• 4 different Levels (quantity grades) for the regular notification:
1-10 t/a, 10-100 t/a, 100 – 1000 t/a, >1000 t/a
• Risk management for new chemicals based on their hazardous properties and
the risk of exposure for the human being or environment
• In case of new information on hazard characteristics of registered chemicals,
the holder of the “Registration Certificate” shall immediately submit the new
information for review.
“TURKEY REACH”
Turkey has adopted the “Regulation on inventory and control of chemicals” on December 26, 2008 and it went into force on January 1, 2009. It was amended on May 23, 2010 to extend the submission deadline to March 31, 2011.
The Turkish legislation was inspired by the European REACH legislation and has two main principles:
• Set up of a chemical inventory that comprises the information of new and
existing substances manufactured in or imported into Turkey
• Control and reduce the risks of those substances
The key elements of the “Turkey REACH” are:
• notification for an inventory for new and existing substances, also in
preparations
• different margins and requirements: 1-1000 tons/year and >1000 tons/year
• Basic information for substances manufactured or imported 1 – 1000 tons/year
• Detailed information requirements for substances >1000 t/year:
Uses, physiochemical data, eco-toxicity data, data on the behavior among
environmental media, data about toxicity, Carcinogenic and mutagenic
effects and toxic effects for reproduction. Information has to kept updated.
• Priority list, similar to the “Candidate List”, for substances that are in the focus
due to their potential effects on human health and environment
• Risk assessment for substances on the Priority list with the further information
from notifying companies