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On 18 December 2006 the European Parliament approved the Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals and establishing a European Chemicals Agency, which became known as REACH. The Regulation aims to ensure an effective functioning of the common chemicals market, and the protection of both human health and of the environment from undesirable effects of chemicals. The European Chemical Agency will control the technical, scientific and administrative aspects of the REACH system.

The Regulation applies to substances produced or imported in an amount exceeding one metric ton per year. After the required report on chemical safety has been drafted and the extent of risk has been assessed, the producers, importers and subsequent users of the substances (as they are or are included in chemical processes or objects), must request their registration with the European Chemicals Agency, which will evaluate whether the submitted materials are correct and complete, including the assessed risks associated with the use of the substances. Failure to register means that the substances can be neither produced in EU member states, nor imported there. To ensure a high level of environmental and human health protection, increased attention will be paid to extremely dangerous substances such as carcinogenic or mutagenic substances, substances toxic for reproduction etc., the use of which may be restricted and which may be required to be replaced with safer alternative substances or technologies.

Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 will came into force on 1 June 2007. Pre-registration and the subsequent registration of by the legislation specified chemicals, processes and substances, which are contained in products (i.e. objects from which they can be released when used), will begin on 1 June 2008.

The registration will progress gradually over an 11-year period, depending on the amount of chemicals produced or imported and on how dangerous the properties of the substances are.

The REACH brochure is available on the Czech version of the web pages.