FAQ for 2010 and beyond

What are my obligations as a customer of Brenntag under REACH?

 

As a customer of Brenntag your are, in terms of REACH, a Downstream User and as such you should follow the risk management advice and the operational conditions of use described in the extended safety data sheet (extSDS) received from the supplier. If applicable, forward the advice to actors further down the supply chain. If you as a Downstream User produce a preparation (you are a formulator), you must ensure that the extSDS for that preparation includes all relevant information received from the suppliers of the individual components. Please note: This was already a duty of downstream users under previous legislation. The new element under REACH is the receiving and forwarding of use-specific risk management advice and risk management measures relating to exposure to humans or the environment.

 

Under what conditions do I receive an extSDS?

 

A SDS extended by an Exposure Scenario is obligatory when the substance is classified dangerous and manufactured at a quantity of 10 tons or more or is assessed to be a PBT or vPvB. Depending on the registration deadline according to the manufacturer’s production volume of the dangerous substance the extSDS will be provided a few months after the respective registration deadline. If a substance is exempt, not classified as dangerous or produced at a volume below 10 tons, an extSDS will not be provided.

 

When do I receive a Registration Number and an Exposure Scenario?

 

The deadline of December 1st, 2010 is related to the submission of the registration dossier and is not connected to the communication of the registration number. It might from that point in time take a few months before the registrant receives its registration number and only after he has received the registration number the registrant will send the extSDS to his customers. As in many cases there are several steps in the supply chain between the Registrant and the Downstream User delays in the communication of the Registration Number and extSDS to the final Downstream User will be unavoidable. Brenntag expects receiving the majority of the extSDS from April 2011 onwards. For substances to be registered by later deadlines, the provision of Registration Number and Exposure Scenario is expected according to respective registration deadlines with similar administrative delays. Please refer also to the Cefic Newsletter on communication in the supply chain.

 

What – in a few words - is an Exposure Scenario?

 

By performing a Chemical Safety Assessment of a substance the registrant may conclude that the substance is dangerous and in that case the additional steps exposure assessment and risk characterization have to be made. The Exposure Scenario documents the result of the exposure assessment and risk characterization and describes under what conditions the chemical substance is manufactured or used safely in the areas environment, workplace and consumer during its life-cycle. The Exposure Scenario shall address all identified uses. The Exposure Scenario is attached to the SDS as extension. Please see also section Exposure Scenarios in this website.

 

What will be the format of extSDS?

 

The format of the so called body is regulated in Annex II of the Regulation “Guide to the Compilation of Safety Data Sheets”. Brenntag will of course follow the regulation. Unfortunately no official format for shape and format of the Exposure Scenario has been developed. The Guidance from May 2008 “Guidance on information requirements and chemical safety assessment – Part D: Exposure Scenario Building” suggests a 9-chapter format. In the meantime, both Industry and ECHA are working with a 4-chapter format. Additionally there is currently no standard for electronic communication of extSDS.

 

Will my uses be supported in the registration dossier?

We have communicated the information about uses which we received from our customers to our respective suppliers in accordance with Article 37. We believe that most of the common uses which have been identified by the various industry associations will be covered in the registration dossiers. Since Brenntag for the vast majority of its product portfolio will not register any of the substances Brenntag is not in the position to make any statements on which uses will or will not be included in the respective dossiers submit by our suppliers. The supported uses and conditions of use will be communicated via the SDS extended by Exposure Scenarios, the so called extended SDS (extSDS). Downstream Users are well advised to check their uses and conditions of use related to the substance soon upon receipt of the extSDS. Please note: if the substance is non-hazardous no Exposure Scenario is required and, apart from consideration of work-safety obligations, no further action for the Downstream User is necessary. For further information please see also section Exposure Scenarios in this website.

 

What is meant by “conditions of use”?

Conditions of use are determined on one hand by the physical properties of the substance on the other hand it is the frequency and duration of use, applied risk management measures and operational conditions that determine the conditions of use.

 

What if any of my uses is not covered in the registration dossier?

If any of your uses / conditions of use appears not to be covered in the extSDS you have 12 months to make the missing use REACH compliant. According to Article 39-1 you may continue to apply this use / conditions of use during a 12 month period which starts at the date you receive the registration number communicated via the extSDS. For further information please see also section Exposure Scenarios.

 

What options do I have, if my use is not covered?

During 12 months upon receipt of extSDS you may choose among several options to make your operations REACH compliant:

• Change conditions of use in order to be compliant
• Contact your supplier and inform about the missing use / conditions of use
• Select an alternative supplier which has covered missing use / conditions of use in his registration
• Special uses / conditions of use for which no registrant can be found may have to be assessed and reported to ECHA by the Downstream User himself (Articles 37-4, 38-1 and 39-2)

For further information please see also section Exposure Scenarios.

Within this context we recommend also to refer to our customer information or to the document “Downstream users: are your uses covered?” provided by the European industry association for small and medium sized companies (UEAPME).

 

Will my substance be registered in 2010?

Only substances manufactured or imported at a volume of 1,000 tons or above as well as CMR substances need registration by 1st December 2010. ECHA has issued a list containing the substances for which at least one pre-registrant has confirmed to register in 2010. We advise our customers to refer to this list in order to check whether a substance will be registered in 2010. This list is the outcome of a survey conducted by ECHA earlier this year and is based on the legally not binding statements of pre-registrants. Please note substances not on this list could still have a later registration deadline (2013 or 2018) or could be registered in 2010 after all. You can find the list here.

 

Can I continue to use substances supplied before registration deadline and that are not registered?

Pre-registered substances that are manufactured or imported before the relevant registration deadline can still be used and placed on the market after this date by any downstream user, distributor or supplier in the supply chain even if the manufacturer did not submit a registration. If you are a Manufacturer or an Importer of that substance you must have ceased such activities before the relevant deadline to benefit from this rule. However any actor down the supply chain who is not subject to the registration obligation may continue to use and/or supply quantities of the substance that were supplied to them before the registration deadline.