TSCA and REACH

 

In the European Union (EU), the main legislation for governing chemicals is the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals, commonly known as REACH Regulation, 2006. The Regulation allows manufacturers and importers in the EU to submit a registration for their chemical substances and for products containing chemical substances.

 

Unlike REACH, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), of the United States amendments do not require the registration for chemicals within commerce, but it does mandate a risk evaluation and restriction process that has some definite parallels to that of the REACH Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) Candidate listing and authorization.

 

Under the amendments of the TSCA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must actively evaluate risks by screening all the chemical substances to identify the high priority substances. This is similar to the REACH SVHC Candidate listing process.

 

The TSCA Amendments is new authority to the EPA to order testing without undergoing a lengthy consent or rulemaking process. The EPA could exercise their new authority in a way that compliments REACH, as scientific information that is gathered to evaluate chemical substances for the TSCA can also be used in the EU.

 

For more information, visit Lexology.com. Please contact Nexreg for more information about REACH Compliance.