REACH Guidance EZ – Documents For the Rest of Us

Those interested in REACH regulation should know that the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has published a new version of its Guidance in a Nutshell.  Relevant to any company that makes, sells, buys or even thinks about finished goods, it’s called “Guidance in a Nutshell on Requirements for Substances in Articles.”

The updated “Guidance in a Nutshell” is a good document for those of us who are engineers, and who are not lawyers or overly obsessed with the finer points of Policy minutiae. The document addresses in simple terms the primary bullet points of ECHA’s new version of the Guidance on Requirements for Substances in Articles, itself something of a monster (worth wrestling with for some of us, but not all).

The Nutshell document’s aim is to help companies who produce, import or supply articles.  Specifically, it will help them to identify their obligations regarding substances in articles under REACH.  The document briefly explains key bullets such as:

  1. the concept of an article
  2. obligations for registration, notification and communication
  3. possible exemptions from these obligations

Here are the links you need:
Guidance in a Nutshell on Requirements for Substances in Articles:
http://guidance.echa.europa.eu/docs/guidance_document/nutshell_guidance_articles2_en.pdf

Guidance on requirements for substances in articles:
http://guidance.echa.europa.eu/docs/guidance_document/articles_en.htm

General ECHA guidance website:
http://guidance.echa.europa.eu/index_en.htm

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About Kal

Kal Kawar, CIH, PE, has a bachelor's in chemical engineering and a master's in industrial hygiene. His professional experience includes serving as staff industrial hygienist for IBM's New York semiconductor manufacturing facility, and as industrial hygienist for IBM’s US headquarters. Now executive vice president of Actio, Kal taps more than 20 years' worth of chemical engineering, industrial hygiene, and environmental engineering experience. His far-reaching expertise with global regulatory challenges created by EPA, TSCA, REACH, RoHS, WEEE – and hundreds of others – aid in developing Actio software solutions for MSDS management, raw material disclosure compliance, and product stewardship in a supply chain.