SHRIRANG BHOOT*, CHIA-SUI HSU, SHISHER KUMRA
*Corresponding author
Global Product Compliance (GPC)

Abstract

The European Union’s regulation for chemical safety (REACH) addresses the registration, evaluation, authorization, and restriction of chemicals that are potentially harmful to public health and the environment. Data on the chemicals’ properties, uses, hazards and risks must be provided by industry to the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) before the chemicals are placed on the European market. The EU’s regulatory policies have directly and indirectly influenced many non-EU countries to strengthen their chemical regulations. This ‘Europeanization’ of chemical regulations has resulted in a rapidly changing regulatory landscape in which limits enterprises’ ability to predict the future compliance burden. 

This article focuses on the chemical regulations in India, Turkey, and South Korea to analyse regulatory interactions fuelled by EU’s chemical regulatory policies. It concludes with the comparative analysis of these regulation and their compliance requirements.

Registration, Evaluation, Authorization (Restriction) of Chemicals (REACH) is a regulation of the European Union, adopted to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the risks posed by chemicals. The regulation also aims to enhance the competitiveness and innovation of the EU chemicals industry. For example, by restricting the use of certain substances it forces companies to find substitutes with similar properties but better toxicological profiles or promoting alternative methods for the hazard assessment of substances to reduce animal testing.  In principle, REACH applies to all chemical substances; not only those used in industrial processes but also in our day-to-day lives, for example in cleaning products, paints as well as in articles such as clothes, furniture, and electrical appliances.

After REACH entered into force in 2007, its implementation has caused concerns among chemical companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. The responsibility of proving the safety of chemicals has been placed on companies. To comply with the regulation, companies must identify and manage ...