Every Player Counts - By now, everyone in the chemical industry is aware of REACH and in the best-case scenarios, every player knows what is expected of them under the law. But it's not just manufacturers of chemicals who are obligated to follow the registration guidelines; chemical distributors also have their role to play under the law. Brandi Schuster spoke with Marianne Lyngsaae, Quality System Manager and REACH Adviser, Brenntag Nordic and Matthias Raduner, REACH & European Projects Analyst, Brenntag Europe, about what REACH means for their company.

CHEManager Europe: How many REACH inspections within Brenntag have been carried out to date?

Marianne Lyngsaae: The inspections have often been carried out as combined REACH/CLP inspections, and the weight of these two elements (or other elements) differs. Therefore, it's not easy to come up with an exact overall figure at European level. Some countries already had five REACH inspections, some others only three and some also none.

Do you feel like the inspections were thorough enough to meet the goals set out by REACH?

Marianne Lyngsaae: REACH is a highly complex piece of legislation, and the learning curve is steep. This is the case for inspectors as well as for the inspected Brenntag entities. By experience, the focus of the inspections is changing along with the REACH timeline from pre-registration to registration and from SDS to extended SDS. In areas where inspectors are very familiar - like classification and labeling - REACH compliance of the SDS and registration status of substances inspections have been very thorough. In other areas, inspectors could benefit from learning more about company procedures and business practices that are beneficial for making thorough inspections and helps to facilitate the dialog with the inspected company.

What challenges do chemical distributors face when it comes to regulatory issues such as REACH?

Matthias Raduner: REACH has its impact on every actor in the chemicals supply chain. Not only manufacturers and importers, but also any company or professional person using chemicals as well as the distributors have their legal obligations under this regulation.

The majority of chemical distributors are confronted in dealing with several aspects of the regulation, depending on their role in the supply chain as defined by REACH, be it distributor, importer and/or downstream user.

In the beginning of the REACH era, the most challenging activity in terms of effort for distributors has certainly been the task to comply with communication obligations related to use identification. On top of that, distributors where challenged in dealing with requests from their customers to provide information on or even a "guarantee" regarding "REACH Compliance" of their products supplied. Now, after the first and second registration deadlines, the main activity when dealing with dangerous substances or preparations consists of forwarding extended SDS to customers and to act as a communication link between customer and supplier when it comes to uses not covered or to conditions of use outside the description in the exposure scenario.

A distributor importing substances or preparations must either make sure it has registered or pre-registered the chemicals by itself or rely on the non-EU supplier's appointment of an Only Representative (OR) to do the (pre-) registration. While the first option often is a question of strategy and cost, the second option is challenging in terms of trust in the non-EU supplier's registration strategy and the professionalism of its OR. As some non-EU suppliers do still lack knowledge with regards to the regulatory provisions concerning imports, it often is a challenge for the importers to prove and document REACH compliance of individual transactions when relying on an OR.

Typically the chemical distributor does not only buy, store and distribute chemicals but operates as re-packer, re-filler and even offers value-added services like mixing and blending. By these activities, the distributor becomes a downstream user and has to take over obligations upon receipt of the extended SDS. A downstream user using dangerous substances or preparations, has to comply with the provisions set out in the exposure scenarios attached to the main body of the extended SDS which describe how to use a substance/preparation safely. Any use outside conditions or a use not covered in the Exposure Scenario entails measures to be taken to correct the situation.

All in all, the communication up and down the supply chain has significantly increased due to REACH as has the need to keep records of this communication. As the common business model of the distributors is the sourcing from a variety of suppliers and servicing a high number of typically small and medium sized enterprises, the communication obligation and record keeping represents a challenging and resource-binding task.

What do your customers expect from you when it comes to regulations like REACH?

Matthias Raduner: First of all customers can expect Brenntag to act in compliance with effective regulations. While in terms of our processes we are in compliance with the obligations stipulated in REACH, a general confirmation on REACH compliance for the products supplied, often requested by customers, has no value since the compliant use is always in the responsibility of the downstream user. For instance a registration alone does not imply the downstream user's compliance when his use is not covered by the registration.

What our customers may expect is the swift and professional response to questions around REACH generally and regarding uncovered uses particularly. In many cases customers are overwhelmed by the complexity and technical terms of an exposure scenario and can be satisfied by advice how to interpret the content of the document. In case a use is not covered a professional, smooth communication up and down the supply chain with the aim of adapting extended SDS is key.

How has REACH affected your business and the businesses of your customers?

Matthias Raduner/Marianne Lyngsaae: The regulation, with its impacts on all dimensions of Brenntag's business processes, forces us to continuously dedicate resources on subsidiary level as well as centrally. One of the most perceptible impacts of REACH has been increase of communication between Brenntag and our business partners and the related documentation. Also, our environmental, health & safety management system had to be adapted to cope with the additional requirements imposed by the regulation.

EACH induced Brenntag's commercial departments to get increasingly involved with inquiries around regulatory provisions requiring internal trainings to provide a solid basic knowledge on REACH which is today key when offering professional service as a chemical distributor.

REACH compliant purchases from outside the EU require the continuous control of import volumes as well as the ongoing monitoring of Only Representatives. To ensure compliance of own operations is another dimension of REACH related tasks that has to be organized in the daily work. The compilation of Brenntag proprietary extended SDS is an additional effort demanding challenge requiring high levels of skill and professional accuracy.

Bottom line: The requirements of REACH have increased the complexity in every dimension of business processes for all participants in the chemicals supply chain, but six years after entering into force, REACH has become integral part of business practice.