Lawyer friends from Europe (Hans-Josef Vogel) and the States (Dan Hull) tell me that many small and mid-sized American companies are not paying enough attention to the vast impact of Europe’s new REACH regulations that apply to entities that send or import “substances” into the EU. “Substances” mainly means “chemicals” but is much broader in application since it applies to items such as incense or candles that involve chemical reactions produced by fire. So, in an article just published in Corporate Counsel magazine, I touched on the topic to try to help get the word out for those not yet paying attention to REACH and its important December 1 deadline to “register.” The benefit of registering now is that it gives registered companies a chance to save potentially a lot of money down the line by avoiding regulatory hoops and instead being allowed to “piggyback” on information submitted by the large chemical companies and other.
For more specifics, go to the link above for “Hanjo’s” law firm and search on REACH (yes, they have English versions), or click on the following link for a summary article explaining REACH and the rules regarding registration. Messrs. Gerhold and Roeder of the firm are the resident experts.