What are the 4 exceptional cases?
ECHA has identified 4 exceptional scenarios where registrants may not be able to submit a complete registration dossier in time due to external difficulties beyond their control.
Case 1: Completeness of dossiers
In some cases, industries may find it difficult to gather all the data required in Annexes VII and VIII in time to submit a complete Registration dossier.
In fact, the importer of a mixture sometimes fails to obtain the analytical data for each substance present in the mixture subject to Registration. Similarly, if a company has requested testing in advance but has not received the results in time to submit a complete dossier, ECHA may - in accordance with Article 20 (2) of the Regulation REACH - assign a more reasonable deadline so that the company can complete its dossier.
Case 2: Legal entity change
Another exceptional case: companies that have not established pre-registration due to a change of legal identity.
In this situation, ECHA specifies that, if the change is complex, beyond the control of the manufacturer (in the case of mergers for example) and is at least 12 months before the Registration deadline, then the registration deadline may be relaxed.
Case 3: Dependency on the Lead Registrant
If the lead registrant fails to submit the Full Registration dossier on time, then one of the co-registrants must become a Lead Registrant and submit a complete and valid Registration.
Case 4: Substance with no registration intentions
It may sometimes be difficult for an Only Representative or a new importer to register on time or take the role of Lead Registrant. In this case, if no Registration is planned for a given substance, then the downstream users can take a proactive stance by taking the role of an importer and thus submit a Registration or engage another importer to do so on their behalf.
How do I inform ECHA of my situation?
Each company affected by one of the above situations will have to notify ECHA by 24 May 2018. The registrant will then have to provide detailed evidence of his situation as well as an explanation of the measures taken to comply with REACH obligations. Once this information has been received, ECHA will give you instructions on how to proceed.
For more information on the exceptional cases eligible for relaxing the REACH Registration deadline, consult ECHA’s article on this subject.
