REACH and the new European Chemical Agency have arrived!

The new European Chemicals regulation (REACH) came into force today and the European Chemical Agency opened its doors in Helsinki. Enterprises which manufacture or import more than one tonne of a chemical substance per year will be required to register the substance in a central database administered by the new EU Chemicals Agency. The Agency will provide central IT tools and guidance but each Member State will offer helpdesk assistance.

The link to the ECHA web site is http://ec.europa.eu/echa/.