MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF, the largest diversified chemical company in the world, has successfully completed the second phase of registration for REACH under EU chemical law, reported the company on its site.
REACH stands for the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals and represents a fundamental reorganization of chemical law in Europe.
The second phase of registration for chemicals with a production volume between 100 and 1,000 tonnes per year ends on May 31. In this phase, BASF submitted around 550 substance dossiers to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) - more than any other company.
BASF also topped the list of companies in the registration process with around 680 substance dossiers in phase 1. By the end of the final transition period in the year 2018, BASF is expecting a total of approximately 3,500 registrations. The total costs of REACH implementation for BASF by the year 2018 will be between EUR500 million and EUR550 million.
"Both the industry and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), which was founded a few years ago, have to adapt to the new system. This has been a learning process which is not yet complete. There is still potential for improvements, especially in communication between the registrant and competent authorities - both ECHA and the authorities in the EU member states," says Dr. Karsten Muller, Head of the Chemical Regulations unit at BASF.
REACH applies to all substances currently produced in or imported to the EU. They are registered in three phases with data requirements depending on their production volume (substances above 1,000 tonnes per year; substances above 100 tonnes per year; substances above 1 tonne per year). The implementation of REACH is not limited to registration. The REACH requirements have to be implemented in the production and business processes. This is intended to ensure the safe handling of chemical substances in Europe.
While REACH only applies in Europe, BASF has also set a goal to review all risk assessments worldwide by the year 2020 for substances and mixtures which BASF sells in quantities of more than one ton.
As MRC reported previously, BASF had sales of approximately EUR8.5 billion in 2012 from new products that have been on the market for less than five years. Last year, BASF launched more than 250 new products onto the market.
BASF is the largest diversified chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF had sales of EUR72.1 billion in 2012.
MRC