Further to the Open Meeting on unmodified phenolic resins hosted by the European Phenolic Resins Association (EPRA) in mid-May, three companies have now committed to the formation of a REACH Consortium to co-ordinate the information required to cover their obligations under the legislation.
The three initial member companies are Dynea Chemicals OY, Hexion Speciality Chemicals GmbH and Sumitomo Bakelite Europe, all of whom confirmed their participation by signature of the relevant Agreement at the inaugural meeting of the Consortium in Brussels on 25th June. They have since been joined by Ashland (UK) Limited who attended at the first Steering Committee Meeting which took place in Frankfurt on 22nd August.
In accordance with the rules of the Consortium, other eligible companies can join as founder members for a period of three months from these initial meetings – making the cut-off date 22nd November 2008. Companies seeking to join the Consortium after that date will be subject to the rules for new members which will, amongst other things, require them to catch-up with funding commitments already made by existing members.
Meanwhile EPRA is considering the approach that needs to be adopted to meet any registration obligations associated with a number of modified phenolic resins. The EPRA REACH Steering Group has launched a series of questionnaires to identify a list of possible resin types requiring consideration and these will be the subject of a separate announcement, as the Group looks for like-minded manufacturers to form relevant additional consortia.
For more information on possible membership options, companies are advised to contact:
Dr Eckart Nausch
e-mail: treuhandbuero@dnu.eu