The European Commission adopted the fees and charges that will be applicable under the new REACH regulation on 16 April. The charges will be for the registration, evaluation and authorisation of all chemicals manufactured or imported in the EU and will range from ?1600 to ?31000.

In order to keep the burden on SMEs to a minimum, the Commission has developed a policy of reduced registration fees for different groups of companies; 30% for medium companies, 60% for small companies and 90% for micro companies. There will also be a 25% reduction for firms that cooperate on registrations due to the reduced workload for the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

REACH requires that all substances manufactured or imported in the EU in quantities above 1 tonne per year be registered as from 1 June 2008. Extended registration deadlines apply if the substances have been pre-registered (all so called “phase-in substances” are eligible for pre-registration).

Companies that want to benefit from staggered registration deadlines - 2010, 2013, 2018 - must pre-register their chemical substances between 1 June and 1 December 2008.

If a manufacturer or importer of a chemical fails to pre-register by 1 December 2008 he cannot continue manufacturing or importing it until he has submitted a registration dossier. Users of chemicals cannot continue using substances which have not been pre-registered or registered by their supplier.

For more information see the European Commission’s press release.