REACH - EU decide on charges for registration

The EU has given details of the fees and charges payable to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) for the registration of chemical substances (REACH) - the details are available in the wordy tome, the Official Journal of the European Union (Commission Regulation (EC) No 340/2008 of 16 April 2008).

The fees range from €1 600 for substances produced or imported in volumes below 10 tonnes, to €31 000 for those above 1 000 tonnes.

Help is offered to smaller businesses, with discounts of up to 90% for what is classed as a micro-enterprise; 60% for small-sized companies; and 30% for medium-sized firms (the definitions micro, small and medium are given in the EC regulation).

There is also a 25% reduction for companies which jointly regsiter.

REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances) requires that all substances manufactured or imported into the EU in quantities above one tonne per year be registered as from 1 June 2008.

For help with any aspect of REACH, especially for paper chemicals contact Canda International Ltd - importers into the EU or EU producers.