26 March 2009
Media Release: NTE/13/2009
$1 Million SPRING Assistance to Help Companies
Comply with EU’s REACH Regulation
1. SPRING Singapore has set aside nearly $1 million under the REACH Registration Assistance Pilot Scheme to help chemicals and related industries meet the European Union’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation. Companies can tap on the scheme to engage consultants to help with the registration of chemicals destined for the EU market. The pilot scheme will run from now until 30 November 2010.
2. Under REACH, all manufacturers and importers of chemicals in the EU are required to provide information on the properties and potential risks of substances in their products and register them with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). This will have a significant impact on Singapore businesses that export or are part of the supply chain that export to the EU market. In 2008, Singapore exported almost $11 billion of chemicals and related products to the EU, accounting for 23% of total exports there. In addition, industries such as electrical and electronics, which are downstream users of chemicals, contributed 50% of total exports to the EU.
3. Since REACH came into force on 1 June 2007, companies were given a six-month period from 1 June – 1 December 2008 to pre-register their products. Thereafter three deadlines have been imposed for registration of chemical substances depending on their quantities and toxicity. Substances which have not been registered will not be allowed on the EU market and companies will be subjected to monetary fines and/or face imprisonment if found to be non-compliant. The first deadline will fall on 30 November 2010 with the last being 31 May 2018.
4. SPRING and the Singapore Chemical Industry Council (SCIC) have been working together to help Singapore companies in the chemicals and related industries comply with REACH. “Since late 2007, SPRING has been closely monitoring developments and informing companies of what they need to do to prepare for REACH through e-alerts and website postings. We have also organised a series of workshops with the SCIC to educate our companies on REACH responsibilities and registration requirements. We recognise that our companies may find preparations for registration a daunting task and will need experts to help them, hence, we are now providing support for the registration.” said Mr Lam Kong Hong, Director of SPRING’s Quality Assurance (Services) Division.
5. To register the chemical substances, companies are required to submit a technical dossier which includes the identity and safety information of the substance and proposals for further testing, if relevant. This is a complex process involving communication with other potential registrants of the same chemical to gather such data.
6. “All these efforts are to ensure that our companies will continue to capitalise on their market share in the EU and maintain export competiveness,” Mr Lam added.
7. The SCIC will assist in this project management aspect, where it will coordinate and follow up on the participating companies’ projects
8. “SCIC has been engaging our members in REACH related capacity building efforts over the past few years. This pilot scheme will be a boost for affected companies and SCIC will be reaching out to share more about the assistance scheme in the coming weeks and assist them in the funding process.” said Dr A Chockalingam, Chairman of SCIC.
9. Interested companies can contact Mr Teo Kah Boon from the SCIC at 6278 9149 or email: kahboon@scic.sg. More information on REACH is available on the www.spring.gov.sg/etac
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About SPRING Singapore
SPRING Singapore is the enterprise development agency for growing innovative companies and fostering a competitive SME sector. We work with partners to help enterprises in financing, capabilities and management development, technology and innovation, and access to markets. As the national standards and accreditation body, SPRING also develops and promotes internationally-recognised standards and quality assurance to enhance competitiveness and facilitate trade.
Please visit www.spring.gov.sg for more information and news about SPRING Singapore.
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Estelle Koh
Senior Officer, Corporate Communications
SPRING Singapore
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