For the European flexible packaging industry, REACH arguably is the most significant legislative development of the past two decades. Standing for Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals, REACH obliges packaging manufacturers, importers and end-users to show that chemical substances they manufacture, import and use won’t harm human health or the environment.

Though the legislation hasn’t been finalized, shrewd companies are assessing its likely impact on processes, products and supply chain partners. It’s an urgent mission: the EU hopes to implement REACH in Spring, 2007.

Evaluating 30,000 Chemical Substances
As currently legislated, REACH will replace the varied chemical safety regulations that European countries currently administer and will govern all chemicals produced in amounts over one ton. Some 30,000 substances must be assessed under the new rules, and the EU believes that in the first 11 years of REACH, its new chemicals agency will receive about 80,000 dossiers from companies registering chemical substances. Some substances, such as polymers, are exempt from the registration process.

When the law takes effect, its application will be gradual in most cases:

The first practical hurdle, however, is pre-registration: REACH requires companies importing or manufacturing substances covered by the law to pre-register those substances within 12 to 18 months after the legislation takes effect. Draft legislation does not list which chemicals are affected; companies may consult the European Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances for more information. Each company must assess which chemicals it manufactures or imports at amounts above one ton.

Opinions Differ on the Effect of REACH
How will REACH affect the thousands of companies that depend on regulated chemicals? KPMG, a global consulting firm who weighed in on the flexible packaging segment, predicts that price increases due to REACH won’t hurt competitiveness, and that few high-volume substances are at risk of withdrawal. Downstream users can breathe a sigh of relief, since they most likely won’t experience withdrawal of chemicals important to their businesses.

Some others, however, predict negative impacts on innovation, pricing, competition, chemical availability and chemical formulations. “It’s difficult to say exactly what the actual effect will be,” says Andrea Sitia, product stewardship manager for Rohm and Haas Adhesives and Sealants in Europe. “However, we expect that it will impact the number of substances authorized for use in Europe. This is particularly true for concerned — CMR and PBT — substances. We think REACH increases the likelihood that they will be phased out.”

Rohm and Haas Prepares for Compliance
Rohm and Haas is preparing thoroughly for implementation. The company maintains a dedicated REACH team, composed of members such as toxicologists and product integrity and regulatory specialists, that tracks developments daily. “We conducted an in-depth evaluation of how many substances we use, import or manufacture in Europe that might be affected by REACH,” Sitia explains.

The company recommends that its customers educate themselves soon. “In particular, understand final end-use applications for those products containing concerned substances,” Sitia cautions. “The EU will authorize those substances only for specific end-uses in which risks are controlled, where the benefits outweigh the risks, and when no substitutes exist.”

Customers also must prepare and plan for the costs associated with implementation and with supplying data such as use and safe handling methods. Many studies have assessed the expected economic impact of REACH across the entire European chemical industry over the first 11 years. Most estimate total compliance costs between two and four billion Euros, but the most alarming studies see costs as high as seven billion.

Leveraging the Advantages REACH Offers
Experts also find that REACH may confer significant advantages such as easier and more effective risk management, better access to facts about chemical properties and more meaningful communication with the public and government as information becomes available and legislative processes become more transparent. The law also encourages data sharing, recommends that companies use already existing data and requires that producers and importers share chemical information along the supply chain.

As the REACH era approaches, customers can begin planning and benefiting by working closely with Rohm and Haas now, Sitia concludes.