The "European Union Regulations on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals" (REACH) is called "the most complex foreign technical barrier with the widest impact that China has ever encountered", and its scope and extent of influence can be imagined. Know.
The impact of REACH on different manufacturing industries can be easily found in various media and professional journals, which is very helpful for manufacturing companies.
So, does REACH only affect product manufacturers? Does REACH have any direct requirements for dealers who export to the EU? Will it have an impact? What are the impacts? What needs to be done to ensure normal trade? These will be the main focus of this article, and they are also issues that European dealers must pay attention to.
1. Distributors and export trade categories
The REACH regulation has a clear definition of "distributor", which refers to a natural or legal person in the EU who only stores substances or places substances on the market for third parties, including retailers.
Distributors within the scope of this definition obviously refer to companies established in the EU that are engaged in product storage or sales. Domestic distributors do not fall into the category of EU distributors.
The dealers considered in this article are enterprises that only engage in import and export trade and do not produce themselves, especially those that export to the EU. If a dealer is producing at the same time, he is actually a "non-EU manufacturer" within the scope of REACH, and the terms of "non-EU manufacturer" apply, which is beyond the scope of this article.
Based on the registered address and scope of operation, dealers can be divided into "domestic export dealers" and "international import and export dealers". "Domestic export dealers" are only responsible for purchasing products from China and then selling them to importers or companies in the EU; while "international import and export dealers" not only purchase products from China, but also import products from outside the EU in the EU, and may also be in the EU. Distributing in the European market, such international import and export dealers can actually be regarded as "importers" in the EU, and also have the status of "suppliers" and "distributors" stipulated in REACH regulations. Large international buyers generally belong to "international import and export dealers".
2. The relationship between dealers and REACH
The REACH regulations require "distributors" within the EU to collect, transmit, and retain information on substances in products. These requirements are stipulated in Part IV of the regulations. But as mentioned before, this article does not consider dealers within the EU, but dealers engaged in product export trade outside the EU, such as China. The requirements for "dealers" in the EU in the REACH regulations are not directly applicable to domestic dealers.
In fact, by extension, the REACH regulations are originally EU regulations, and all the requirements in them cannot have a direct regulatory effect on domestic dealers. Dealers must have a correct understanding of this.
So, do REACH regulations have any impact on domestic dealers?
No doubt, there is! And the impact is huge!
The direct regulatory targets of REACH regulations are product manufacturers, importers, downstream users, suppliers and distributors. Please note that these refer to natural or legal persons located in the EU.
As mentioned earlier, "international import and export dealers" are not only EU "dealers" in REACH, but also EU "importers" and "suppliers" as defined in REACH regulations. Therefore, international importers need to meet all the requirements for "importers", "suppliers" and "distributors" in the REACH regulations. The requirements that need to be met can be summarized into the following ten aspects:
- Pre-registration
- register;
- Registration inquiry;
- Accept registration information/substance evaluation;
- Maintenance and renewal of registration;
- Apply for authorization;
- Limit the content of harmful substances;
- Information communication within the supply chain;
- Notification of information on substances of very high concern;
- Notifications on classification and labeling of substances;
Originally, the ten requirements that REACH applies to importers are not for all products, but have different requirements for the three categories of products "substances", "preparations" and "articles" stipulated in REACH, such as "application for authorization" "It is not applicable to "items" imported from the EU, and the "Notification of Substances of Very High Concern" is specifically aimed at the requirements for "items". However, since many dealers cover these three categories of products, especially some large international buyers who purchase tens of thousands of goods, dealers must fully understand the requirements of REACH and respond effectively.
"Domestic export dealers" do not belong to any of the roles of manufacturers, importers, suppliers, downstream users, and distributors regulated by REACH regulations. Therefore, REACH regulations are not directly applicable to "domestic export dealers". However, since the REACH regulations have direct requirements for the importers of "domestic export dealers" in the EU, dealers must ensure that the products sold to Europe meet the relevant requirements of REACH and ensure that they can cooperate with the importers. Fulfill his obligations under REACH. From the importer's obligations in REACH, we can infer the work that "domestic export distributors" should carry out. For "domestic export dealers", EU customers often make the following requirements:
Ensure that the product itself does not contain substances specified in Annex XVII of the REACH regulations, or contains but the content does not exceed the standard;
Provide information required for pre-registration, registration, registration inquiry, supplementary registration, application for authorization, substance classification and labeling notification, and content of substances of high concern at the request of importers;
Provide importers with the information that must be passed from upstream to downstream suppliers under the REACH regulations;
If an EU importer requires distributors to consider meeting REACH requirements themselves, the fulfillment of all REACH related requirements must be considered.
3. What dealers should do
3.1 International import and export dealers
As mentioned before, international import and export dealers actually act as "importers" to ensure that products purchased from outside the EU meet the requirements of REACH. In terms of the overall response strategy, there are two options: one is to directly meet the REACH requirements; the other is to require suppliers to meet the requirements and act as a downstream user. However, due to the differences in the size, willingness, and ability of suppliers, it is difficult to require them to meet REACH requirements on their own. There are always some suppliers that cannot be given up and will not directly meet REACH requirements. In this case, generally speaking, it is a more realistic strategy to choose to directly meet the REACH requirements yourself. At this time, all suppliers are required to cooperate in providing relevant information and controlling the content of restricted substances in products.
Then, international import and export dealers can follow the following steps to respond to REACH:
REACH response agency establishment and supply chain REACH awareness raising;
Supplier classification and REACH related requirement identification:
It can be divided into three categories: substance manufacturers, preparation manufacturers and article manufacturers. The requirements and control methods of substance manufacturers and preparation manufacturers are basically similar and can be classified into one category. Generally speaking, the products of manufacturers of substances and preparations will involve REACH pre-registration, registration inquiries, registration, supplementary registration information, renewal of registration, application for authorization, information communication within the supply chain, and restrictions on the content of restricted substances in products. , carry out requirements such as classification and labeling notification of substances; article manufacturers may be involved in REACH's pre-registration, registration inquiry, registration, supplementary registration information, updated registration, notification of substances of high concern, information communication within the supply chain, and restricted restrictions. The content of substances in products and other requirements, among which the possibility of the first six contents actually happening is very small, dealers must have such judgment ability; there is also a type of supplier that claims to be exempted or partially exempted from REACH Suppliers, to confirm the authenticity of such supplier statements;
Spot-check suppliers' REACH response status to understand needs: conduct gap analysis to understand suppliers' capabilities in order to formulate implementation standards in a targeted manner;
Formulate REACH response standard requirements for different supplier categories: Generally speaking, the content needs to include the information that needs to be identified and transmitted, format, time limit and other information transmission requirements, the type, content, time limit and other substance restriction requirements of restricted substances that need to be restricted, and testing requirements, change management requirements, etc.;
Conduct REACH response standard training for different supplier categories: In view of the complexity of REACH regulations, it will be difficult for ordinary suppliers to understand the REACH regulations themselves and the implementation standards proposed by dealers. Therefore, suppliers must be arranged to conduct about 2 days of training. training;
Urging suppliers to meet REACH response standards: This will be a long-term, phased process, which is determined by the requirements of the REACH regulation itself;
Review the supplier's compliance with REACH: mainly to ensure the authenticity of the data provided by the supplier and the effectiveness of restricted substance control; in addition, some suppliers believe that their products are exempted or partially exempted from REACH. As a dealer, you need to check its authenticity, otherwise there will be huge risks;
Carry out those ten aspects of work as an importer.
3.2 Domestic export dealers
As mentioned before, the "domestic export dealers" discussed here do not perform manufacturing. Otherwise, you can directly designate the "only representative" to meet the REACH requirements. The REACH regulations stipulate that non-EU manufacturers can designate natural or legal persons located in the EU as the "sole representative" to meet REACH requirements and perform the importer's obligations on their behalf. At this time, the importer becomes a "downstream user" and does not need to bear many REACH obligations.
So, regarding the operation of "domestic export dealers", we first need to discuss a question: Are "domestic export dealers" qualified to designate a "sole representative" to perform REACH obligations on their behalf? This is a very real problem for "domestic export distributors" because many domestic manufacturers have heard that the registration procedures are complicated and expensive, so they are unwilling to designate a "only representative" to directly deal with REACH. If the dealer's EU importers or domestic suppliers do not consider the REACH issue, or the dealer wants to avoid being subject to others, they must consider meeting the REACH requirements themselves. At this time, a "sole representative" is needed.
The latest version of the guidance document (version 1.3) of the REACH regulation on registration clearly stipulates in 1.5.3.4 "Only Representative of a Non-EU Manufacturer": "Distributors are not mentioned in Article 8(1), so (they) cannot Appointed Only Representative".
However, anyone who understands the situation of REACH response knows that many domestic export dealers have actually found a "sole representative" and have generally been pre-registered. Can they do this?
If we strictly follow the definition of "distributor" in REACH, only those located in the EU can be regarded as distributors. Then, does the statement in the guide mean that EU distributors cannot designate a unique representative? Of course not, dealers in the EU do not have the problem of appointing an "only representative", nor do they have such qualifications. In other words, this regulation is indeed used to control dealers exporting to the EU, although its formulation is not very strict.
Domestic dealers designate "only representatives" for pre-registration. First, they are forced to do so, and second, they facilitate unified operation. In addition, they also have a sense of luck. This involves the enforcement of REACH. REACH is an EU regulation, and of course it can only be enforced in the EU. It is actually difficult to identify whether products exported to the EU from outside the EU are directly exported by manufacturers or re-exported by distributors. If a dealer outside the EU regards himself as a manufacturer, there is no information that can identify whether he is the real manufacturer in all the information required to be submitted by REACH, not to mention that both of them implement relevant requirements through the "only representative". More difficult to identify. It is also impossible for the EU to go outside the EU to directly check whether a company is a dealer or a manufacturer.
The reason why the guidance document is stipulated in this way is that it should be fair to EU manufacturers. For example, if a certain substance in China is exported through one distributor, the whole of China will only need to pay one registration fee, while companies in the EU will each need to pay one registration fee. Therefore, there are still certain risks in the current operation. After all, this is other people's laws and regulations. There is nothing you can't think of but nothing you can't do.
Once the analysis is clear, as a "domestic export dealer" you can follow the following major steps to deal with REACH:
Determine who should deal with it - the importer, the supplier or yourself: for dealers, the best is the supplier, the second is the importer, and the worst is the dealer himself. But this is often not something that dealers can decide; if the suppliers themselves deal with it, then the dealers actually only need to check the compliance of their responses and transfer relevant information; if the importers deal with it, then the dealers The main purpose of suppliers is to assist importers in urging suppliers to provide necessary information, meet the control requirements for restricted substances, and supervise and inspect suppliers' compliance. The specific work that needs to be carried out is similar to that of the "International Import and Export Dealer" above, except that the last one does not need to be carried out; if the dealer handles it himself, then the following work needs to be carried out:
Select the sole representative and sign a contract stipulating the rights and obligations of both parties;
Under the guidance of the "only representative", classify suppliers and specify implementation standards for different categories of suppliers; issue standards to suppliers and convene suppliers for training;
Supervise them to implement standards; provide the information required for pre-registration, registration, application for authorization, notification, etc. at the request of the "only representative";
Transfer information within the supply chain, such as pre-registration number, registration number, authorization number, SDS, SVHC, etc.;
4. SGS’s REACH service for dealers
The complexity and professionalism of REACH regulations determine that dealers cannot rely solely on their own efforts to complete the REACH response for the entire supply chain. For example, the formulation of REACH implementation standards for different suppliers can actually be achieved by relying on professional authoritative organizations such as SGS. Get twice the result with half the effort.
SGS is providing supply chain REACH consulting and training services to large international buyers like Kingfisher. It is also providing supplier audit services to international brands such as J&J. It has accumulated more response experience and is a distributor. A good partner for businesses dealing with REACH.
As a professional third-party agency, SGS can provide all required services involved in REACH regulations, including:
- REACH implementation training;
- Mini-REACH;
- REACH compliance consulting services;
- REACH compliance audit;
- MARCH;
- Only representative services;
- Identification of substance properties and preparation of registration documents;
- Substance testing;
- SDS production;
- SVHC screening;
- Formulation consultation;
