REACH moves nearer to becoming operational

A meeting of prospective shareholders and customers expressed their support for the continued development of the ReFaC (the REACH Facilitation Company for SMEs) initiative on 11 July 2006. A subsequent meeting, scheduled in early September for discussion on the structure and legal formalities involved, aims to allow ReFaC to become operational on schedule during early 2007.

Although the initial work in development of the initiative is being undertaken by the British Chemical Distributors and Traders Association (BCDTA), ReFaC will be an independent company providing members with a range of cost effective solutions to REACH compliance. ReFaC will be based in the UK but will operate on a pan-European basis across all sectors of the chemical industry.

Melvyn Whyte, chairman of BCDTA’s REACH Task Force, said: “We are very pleased by the positive reaction to the ReFaC concept. Smaller firms are clearly very concerned about the financial and administrative burden REACH will involve and support the idea of a low cost, industry-based solution. For example, we propose that initial fees for pre-registration will also include the basic fees for full REACH registration. Overall, we are now in a position to move the ReFaC business proposal forward.”