REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals)

REACH is the European Union regulation governing the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemical substances, adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on December 18, 2006 and in force from June 1, 2007. It shifts the responsibility for demonstrating that a chemical is safe from public authorities onto industry: manufacturers and importers placing a substance on the EU market at one tonne per year or more must register it in a central database, held and verified by the European Chemicals Agency, established by the same Regulation to administer it, and must identify and manage the risks the substance poses across its supply chain. The Regulation also drives substitution of the most hazardous substances with safer alternatives where they exist, and promotes non-animal alternatives to chemical safety testing.