Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)

REACH is a regulation of the European Union, adopted to ensure a high level of protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals while enhancing the competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry. It promotes alternative methods for the hazard assessment of substances in order to reduce the number of tests on animals, as well as the free circulation of substances on the internal market while enhancing competitiveness and innovation.

The regulation lays down provisions on substances and mixtures within the meaning of article 3. These provisions shall apply to the manufacture, placing on the market or use of such substances on their own, in mixtures or in articles and to the placing on the market of mixtures. REACH impacts a wide range of companies across many sectors. In general, under REACH you may have one of these roles - Manufacturer, Importer, Downstream users or End users. With the constantly evolving global legislations and environmental requirements, the product compliance to these regulations has become important.

 In principle, REACH applies to all chemical substances; not only those used in industrial processes but also in our day-to-day lives, for example in cleaning products, paints as well as in articles such as clothes, furniture and electrical appliances. Therefore, the regulation has an impact on most companies across the EU. REACH impacts on a wide range of companies across many sectors.

REACH places the burden of proof on companies. To comply with the regulation, companies must identify and manage the risks linked to the substances they manufacture and market in the EU. They have to demonstrate to European Chemical Agency (ECHA) how the substance can be safely used, and they must communicate the risk management measures to the users. If the risks cannot be managed, authorities can restrict the use of substances in different ways. In the long run, the most hazardous substances should be substituted with less dangerous ones because the regulation also calls for the progressive substitution of the most dangerous chemicals (referred to as "substances of very high concern") when suitable alternatives have been identified.

The compliance to ever evolving changes not only provides the cutting edge to the competition, but also acts as a step towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) for your company.

At TUV India we use internationally approved protocols and latest high end technologies such as ICP/MS, ICP/OES, GC-MS/MS, LC-MS/MS, HPLC, GC-HS, among others. TUV India conducts various tests including SVHC (Substance of Very High Concern) candidates listed by ECHA (European Chemical Agency) as per regulatory guidelines, by examining the intrinsic properties of substances in the various materials and products, thereby providing accurate and reliable results to ensure safety to human health and environment.

The candidate list (SVHC) contains a list of substances which if present in a concentration above 0.1% w/w in any given article, the supplier of this article need to provide sufficient information to allow safe use of this article for ensuring safety of consumers. If the export quantities of these substances are in total over 1 ton per year in these articles, the ECHA needs to be notified. The list of SVHC is usually updated biannually. There are 235 SVHC candidates listed by ECHA as of 14/06/2023. This list is updated biannually. TUV India, provides all REACH-235 SVHC test and can quickly develop tests for the newly added SVHC to ensure that our customer has a hassle free testing experience and can meet the requirements under REACH regulation.

Categories of commodities for which REACH is applicable :

• Plastic products 
• Chemicals 
• Metals and metal articles 
• Toys 
• Packaging material 
• Coated Material 
• Finished Goods 
• Paint 
• Other products apart from the above mentioned categories of commodities