Workshop explores challenges of REACH for SMMEs

The day will be held in Paris, à La Défense, on June 26 and will bring together a number of trade associations and industry experts who will attempt to explain the ins and outs of the new regulation. REACH was accepted in December 2006 and will see the registration of an estimated 30,000 chemicals across many industries. The legislation will significantly affect the cosmetics industry and requires any ingredient imported or manufactured in quantities of more than one tonne per year to be registered. Successful pre-registration is vital ​ Pre-registration for chemicals opened on June 1 and a morning session lead by Samuel Brunet from the French ministry of energy, ecology and sustainable development (MEEDDATT) will explore the online registration facilities and the IT portal designed for this purpose. Successful pre registration is imperative before the end of the year as in January 2009 ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) will publish a list of all pre-registered substances - ingredients that are not exempt from registration and that do not appear on this list will not be allowed in cosmetics products. A further workshop in the afternoon will focus on this topic allowing participants to address questions to the experts that are relevant to their own business experiences. Other topics covered during the day include the responsibilities of small to medium sized cosmetics businesses when it comes to the REACH regulation and Matthieu Lassus from the French office of chemical risk evaluation (BERPC) will be leading this session. Clarification for naturals ​ Over the course of the afternoon workshops will explore natural extracts and their registration, in particular concentrating on the difficulties of exact identification of an extract and those that are exempt from registration. A further session focuses on the relationship between finished product manufacturers and suppliers and the cosmetics company Societe Uriage will give its experience of the preparation for REACH for a downstream user. In addition, the issue of confidentiality regarding the registration of chemicals shall also be discussed during the day.