REACH: Member States vote for more clarity in nanomaterials registrations

In a vote in the REACH Committee on 26 April, Member States agreed to amend several Annexes to REACH clarifying REACH registration requirements with regard to nanomaterials.

REACH has always applied to nanomaterials, but did not contain specific provisions for them, which is why companies often did not know how to register substances in nanoform. The specific requirements will address the current knowledge gap on which substances registered under REACH are placed on the market as nanomaterials and in which quantities. They will also provide information on their basic characteristics, use, how to handle them safely, what risks they potentially pose to health and the environment and how these risks can be adequately controlled. The draft Commission Regulations with the revised annexes will now be submitted for a 3-month scrutiny by the European Parliament and Council before being adopted by the European Commission.

Under REACH, all manufacturers and importers of chemicals have a general obligation to register to the European Chemicals Agency each substance manufactured or imported in quantities of 1 tonne or more per year per company (legal entity). In the registration dossier, they must identify the risks that are linked to the substances they produce and market and indicate how these risks are managed.

More information: Draft Commission Regulation, ECHA nanomaterials

SOURCE: ec.europa.eu