1St Anniversary Review Of EU REACH Regulations

5 days from June 1, 2008, that is the 1st anniversary day when EU REACH regulations came into effect.

According to the regulation, from June 1st to November 30th, if the relevant enterprises fail to get a pitional period through pre registration, the enterprises will not be able to export to the EU even a gram of related products until the official registration is completed for several five months.

In May 20th, more than 300 enterprises in the whole province gathered in Wuhan, for the coming of June 1st, to discuss the countermeasures together and make final preparations.

The most complicated and influential technical barriers

Does He Nengnai have such a REACH rule that so many companies are faced with big enemies?

Zhan Bisheng, deputy director of the Provincial Department of Commerce, said that REACH refers to chemical registration, assessment, authorization and restriction. It is a chemical management law for the EU to conduct preventive management of all chemicals entering the market.

It is similar to the registration, authorization and license system of special products.

In November 2005, REACH passed the first reading; in December 18, 2006, it passed through the two reading; in June 2007, it came into effect; in June 2008, it began to register.

Prior to the entry into force of the REACH regulations, the EU's management of chemicals was lagging behind the US.

The EU originally proposed that "no evidence is unsafe, but it is safe". In the implementation of pesticide registration, the United States adopted the following: "no evidence is safe, but it is unsafe."

The REACH code has accepted the idea of the reverse proof in the United States, and pferred the responsibility of the burden of proof of chemical safety information to enterprises, and advocated "no data, no market".

The regulations cover all chemicals that are manufactured in the European Union, imported or put into the EU, including chemicals themselves, including chemicals and chemicals contained in the products.

Experts estimate that the affected products may be as many as millions of species, covering almost all products.

From the industry level, the implementation of REACH regulations will not only affect the petroleum and chemical industry, but also have a greater impact on downstream industries such as textile, light industry, electronics and automobiles.

In this way, the EU REACH regulations are the most complex and most influential technical barriers that our country faces so far.

350 Hubei enterprises are directly affected.

Because of this regulation, some of our superior chemicals exported to the EU or chemicals with potential market and downstream products using these chemicals may be eliminated by the European Union. Some chemical enterprises may switch to production or even go bankrupt because of rising costs.

Of course, Hubei is not immune.

The European Union is the second largest export area in our province.

In 2007, our province exported 1 billion 860 million US dollars to the European Union, of which 760 million were electromechanical products, 234 million were chemical products, 280 million were garments and 77 million dollars were pharmaceuticals.

Our chemical and downstream products exported to the EU account for about 18% of the total export volume of our province.

Zhan Bisheng said that if our province's chemical products and downstream products can not be completed by the end of November this year, the EU's REACH regulations will be pre registered, then the chemical products and downstream products of our province will not be able to enter the existing EU market from next year.

Leaving only 350 months for our province to directly export chemicals to the European Union's companies and manufacturing enterprises is only 5 months short.

There are more than 1000 enterprises that receive influence.

At the meeting of the EU REACH regulations co sponsored by the Provincial Department of Commerce and the Hubei entry and exit inspection and Quarantine Bureau, the reporter deeply felt the unrest and hesitation of the enterprise.

Almost no enterprise can handle it alone.

What troubles will this Chinese version of the 286 page European Union legislation bring to our province?

Zhang Hanxie, an expert of the provincial entry exit inspection and Quarantine Association, said:

First is the increase of corporate responsibility.

REACH regulations require enterprises to provide a series of technical documents such as safety data sheets, safety assessment reports and risk assessment of chemicals in their products.

The amount of data involved is complex and huge, and a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises are unable to shoulder such responsibilities independently.

Second, the registration process is complex and the cost of trade is increasing.

Non EU enterprises must choose the "sole representative" to complete the registration within the EU, and the chemical and technical data submitted are registered.

As a result, the cost of enterprises has risen, which has exceeded the affordability of quite a number of enterprises.

It is understood that the registration fee includes the agency agency fees, the fees charged by the European Chemicals Agency and the data generated by the registration report.

The fees charged by intermediaries include: pre registration agency fee, expert examination fee, consulting service charge, chemical content test fee, registration information maintenance fee, and formal registration agency fee.

With the start of registration procedures, agency fees for intermediaries are rising and rising.

What worries the enterprises is that the REACH regulations cover technical requirements, trade rules and legal responsibilities, which will cause business secrets and intellectual property risks to non EU enterprises.

Zhang Hanxie said that enterprises in China are not eligible to register for REACH.

If you want to register, you must designate a legal person or natural person within the European Union as your sole representative to handle the pre registration and registration procedures of REACH, and bear the obligations of importers.

This "sole representative" will share data and intellectual property rights with you, such as the raw material formula of a certain product.

"If both sides are businesses in the same field, it means that you have stripped your clothes in front of the other party and have no secrets."

At the scene, the reporter learned that although the more than 300 Hubei enterprises attending the conference have submitted pre registration applications, Zhang Han believes that four or fifty companies will be able to officially register.

Faced with the enormous obstacles brought by REACH, the head of the Provincial Department of Commerce admits: "there are hardly any single enterprises in Hubei capable of coping with it."

Some leaders of the company spoke frankly: "first look at it again, it is not enough, and give up some products to the EU's exports."

China World Trade Center becomes the "only representative"

This is a matter of great importance. Our province attaches great importance to the REACH regulation.

At present, the provincial Office of Commerce, Hubei entry-exit inspection and Quarantine Bureau and other relevant departments constitute Hubei province to deal with the EU REACH regulations office.

In terms of financial support, the provincial finance has allocated 1 million 500 thousand yuan for the construction of REACH public welfare platform in Hubei this year, and the provincial chamber of Commerce has also produced 1 million yuan for the pre registration work.

At the same time, after careful selection, the European Trade Company under the China World Trade Center branch of WISCO is designated as the "sole representative" of Hubei Province in the EU.

The company has an independent legal person status in Germany, and its operation is mature, stable and reliable.

Let other enterprises rest assured that WISCO is mainly responsible for the sale of steel products in Europe and the purchase of equipment, materials and spare parts in Europe. The main business is not related to chemical industry, and will not affect the export trade of entrusted enterprises.