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6/28/2007
New Rules, New World
Times Union
By: Eric Anderson, Deputy Business editor
SARATOGA SPRINGS -- The 100 or so representatives of chemical companies were getting an overview Wednesday morning of sweeping new regulations that will change the way many of them do business.
The regulations -- known as REACH, the Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals imported into or manufactured in the European Union -- took effect June 1, and will be phased in over the next 11 years.
A Colonie-based software company, The Wercs Ltd., held the two-day event, which continues today, to acquaint its client companies with new products that will help them comply with REACH.
Wercs, founded in 1984 to develop a global regulatory compliance program for GE Silicones, takes its name from the acronym formed by Worldwide Environmental & Regulatory Compliance Solution.
REACH has been criticized by American chemical manufacturers as unworkable, impractical and costly. But, said Steve Russell, senior director for the American Chemistry Council, a trade group based in Arlington, Va., "the law is what it is. The most important thing is to focus on compliance.''
Under the new regulations, some 30,000 substances will have to be registered with the Euopean Chemicals Agency, or EchA.
Many substances that are of "high concern'' will be subject to testing and additional analysis, said Erwin Annys, senior adviser of product and innovation policy of Fedichem, the Federation of the Belgian Chemical Industries. Annys was the keynote speaker at Wednesday's program.
"From now on, (it's) the responsibility of industry to prove that every single chemical in every application we can use without effect on humans and the environment,'' Annys said.
The costs of compliance will likely top $3 billion, according to industry officials.
"There may be some rationalization of product lines,'' said Russell of the American Chemistry Council.
He said the regulations do put non-European Union producers of some substances at a competitive disadvantage. For example, while European manufacturers of polymers only need to register the end product, importers must register the monomers, or building blocks, that went into creating the polymer.
That also has the potential of putting a manufacturer's intellectual property at risk, as well as adding costs for the non-European manufacturer.
That said, companies nevertheless are working to meet the new rules.
"Companies right now are busy getting themselves educated, ... (and) getting their systems in place, including IT systems,'' said Russell.
Efforts to reach several local chemical manufacturers on Wednesday weren't successful.
Link: http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=601669&category=BUSINESS&newsdate=6/28
Founded in 1984, The Wercs, Ltd., with worldwide headquarters located in Albany, New York, has become the established Global Standard for providing software tools to automate the Authoring, Distribution and Management of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and other hazardous communication documents with their flagship product, The WERCS®. The Wercs, Ltd. urrently serves numerous industries including Pharmaceutical, Plastics, Paints and Resins, Specialty Chemicals, Aerospace, Agriculture, Biotech, Cosmetics, Energy, Electronic Materials, Lighting, Colors, Fragrances, Automotive, Furniture, Computer Peripherals Oil and more. For additional information on The Wercs, Ltd., contact them at 800-572-6501.
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