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The fees and charges that will be charged for registration,
evaluation and authorisation of chemicals under the new REACH
registration procedures have been adopted by the European
Commission and will be published in the Official Journal in
the coming days.
The fees and charges will apply with the start of registrations
of chemical substances on 1st June 2008 (IP/08/564).
The basic registration fee will range from €1,600 - for substances
produced in volumes below ten tonnes - to €31,000 for those
above 1000 tonnes. There will be up to 90% discounts for smaller
firms and 25% reduction for firms that cooperate together
on registrations.
The fees - payable to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)
in Helsinki, which will manage these operational processes
- were approved by the Committee of Member State representatives
in December.
Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen, responsible for
enterprise and industry policy said - “With significant reductions
of 90% for smaller companies in the chemical sector, we ensure
that they continue to be competitive. We have set the foundations
for a modern registration scheme which protects human health
and the environment. Therefore, it is time to seize the new
business opportunities offered by REACH."
Ensuring a high level of protection of human health and the
environment through the safe use of chemicals and safeguarding
the competitiveness of the European chemical industry are
the objectives of REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation
and restriction of Chemicals) MEMO/06/488.
The main fees and charges will be payable for the submission
and update of registration dossiers and in connection with
the submission of an authorisation request or a review report.
Other fees are payable for notification of certain research
and development activities, certain confidentiality requests
and for appealing against decisions of ECHA.
In order to keep the burden on small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) to a minimum, the Commission applied differentiated
price policy between the different groups of companies. The
following reductions for registrations have been applied -
- 30% for medium companies
- 60% for small sized companies - and
- 90% for micro enterprises.
The level of the fees for registration varies according to
the tonnage range and a reduction of 25% applies in the case
of joint submissions to account for the reduced workload.
A lower registration fee has been fixed for the registration
of intermediates, because the associated workload for the
Agency would be much lower than for the other registration
dossiers.
Fee revenue will partially finance the operations of ECHA,
with the remaining finance coming from a Community subsidy.
The fees will be reviewed by 2013, at the latest.
Companies must register chemical substances as from 1
June 2008 (unless they have pre-registered) - MEMO/08/240
Many companies might not be aware of their potential obligations
under REACH - as manufacturer, importer or user of chemicals
or articles - especially if they do not directly belong to
the chemical sector.
REACH requires that all substances manufactured or imported
in the EU in quantities above 1 tonne per year, be registered
as from 1 June 2008. Extended registration deadlines apply
if the substances have been pre-registered (all so-called
'phase-in substances' are eligible for pre-registration).
Companies that want to benefit from staggered registration
deadlines (2010, 2013, 2018) must pre-register their chemical
substances between 1 June and 1 December 2008.
If a manufacturer or importer of a chemical fails to pre-register
by 1 December 2008, he cannot continue manufacturing or importing
it until he has submitted a registration dossier. Users of
chemicals cannot continue using substances which have not
been pre-registered or registered by their supplier.
The Commission wishes to alert companies that they should
not miss the pre-registration 'window'.
Background
The main aims of REACH are to improve the protection of human
health and the environment from the risks that can be posed
by chemicals, the promotion of alternative test methods, the
free circulation of substances on the internal market and
enhancing competitiveness and innovation.
The mission of the European Chemicals Agency is to -
- Manage and carry out technical, scientific and administrative
aspects of REACH
- Ensure consistency in relation to these aspects throughout
the EU
- Provide the Member States and the EU institutions with
the best possible scientific and technical advice on questions
relating to chemicals which fall under REACH
- Manage IT-based guidance documents, tools and data bases
- Support national helpdesk and run a helpdesk - and
- Make information on chemicals publicly accessible.
For more information - and to access the ECHA website - Click
Here
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