New REACH Registration Requirements for Nanomaterials

On April 26, 2018, EU Member States voted to implement new REACH registration requirements for nanomaterials.  The European Commission announced that the draft regulation will be reviewed by Parliament and Council for three months before being adopted.  The requirement to provide more information on nanomaterials under REACH (Regulation No. 1907/2006) would apply from Jan. 1, 2020.

The European Commission reported that the proposed amendments will significantly clarify REACH registration requirements with regard to nanomaterials. According to the Commission, REACH always applied to nanomaterials but did not contain specific provisions for them.  The Commission explained that this meant companies often did not know how to register substances in nanoform.  It noted that the specific requirements will address the current knowledge gap on which substances registered under REACH are placed on the market as nanomaterials and in which quantities.

Under the new requirements, manufacturers and importers will be obligated to assess and document in the chemical safety report that the risks, arising from the identified uses of the substance with nanoforms they manufacture or import, are adequately controlled. To ensure clarity, the chemical safety report should describe whether and which different nanoforms are covered by the assessment and how the information is compiled in the report.  The proposed regulation can be accessed here.