Businesses go into toxic shock over chemical regs

If you’re reading this as a retailer, supplier or wholesaler who’s never heard of REACH, start panicking.

A new regime requiring the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical Substances came into force on 1 June 2007. Representing one of the biggest legislative shake-ups in recent memory, it requires all recognised chemicals on the market today to be pre-registered with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) by 30 November.

And here’s the sting – the scope of the regulations isn’t limited to weedkiller gathering dust in a hardware store. Food and medicines are exempt as they are covered by other EU laws, but a vast swathe of everyday items from shampoos and shoe polish to carpet cleaner are not. Even jeans, where chemical dyes are used for colouring, are affected.

A UK consultation co-ordinated by Defra, which ends on Monday, will confirm industry fears – there will be no relaxation of the regulations and no period of grace. It is a case of comply or die, and retailers and suppliers need to get their acts together quickly if they are to avoid falling foul of the law. 

While the details of the regulation may appear convoluted and mundane, the penalties for non-compliance are worthy of careful attention. In the worst-case scenario, any unregistered product faces being pulled from the shelves, with the vendor likely to face a hefty fine, the level of which has yet to be set. 

The potential for public embarrassment is huge. Picture the headlines. “Asda withdraws deadly deodorant.” “Tesco fined over toxic trousers.” REACH is a PR disaster waiting to happen, warn experts.

“The retail industry must wake up to the reality it is particularly at risk from these regulations,” says Trevor Kilner, associate consultant at WSP Environment & Energy. “Many of the products on supermarket and other shelves are either made or contain chemicals manufactured outside the EU. Retailers sourcing chemicals from this region are vulnerable. Yet many retailers are unprepared and others are simply unaware.”

The regulation is complex but the basic premise is straightforward. REACH requires all chemicals intended to be released, manufactured or imported into the EU to be pre-registered with the ECHA by by the end of November. 

Failure to meet the deadline will mean a producer or importer of a substance will be forced to fully register the substance with ECHA before it can be supplied to the EU – a time-consuming and expensive process that will almost certainly result in products being withdrawn for a lengthy period of time.

At risk are manufacturers and retailers sourcing from outside the EU. While the onus is on suppliers to register their chemical usage, in each case businesses must ensure upstream suppliers have provided them with information on chemical substances and have registered them with ECHA, or risk being dragged through the courts as an example to others.

For some smaller suppliers, the hassle and expense involved in registration – which could run into seven figures for highly toxic chemicals – would be impossible to justify, fears Kilner, who believes as many of 10% of chemicals could disappear from the market as a result of REACH.

The businesses most at risk, agrees the Health and Safety Executive, are small suppliers and independent retailers who may have failed to consider their requirements. “Many smaller companies mistakenly assume that because REACH is about ‘chemicals’, its requirements will not apply to them,” says an HSE spokeswoman. “It is often more complicated than that.”

Defra disputes suggestions that awareness levels are low, however. It points out that the original proposal dates back to 2003 and since then the UK REACH Competent Authority has co-ordinated four national conferences and 27 regional events, taken out trade press ads and hosted a dedicated website on compliance. “There’s been extensive engagement with industry,” a spokeswoman insists.

That may well be true of the bigger retailers and manufacturers and indeed, the BRC has been liaising with all the major retailers to ensure they are policing their supply chains rigorously. Procter & Gamble, owner of brands such as Gillette and Pantene, meanwhile, confirms it is collaborating with suppliers and developing compliance strategies. 

It’s the smaller players that have to worry. And with the deadline for pre-registration looming, they need to sort their acts out now.