Substances to be registered

Phase-in substances

There is a special transitional regime for substances which, under certain conditions, were already manufactured or placed on the market before REACH's entry into force. Such substances are called phase-in substances. Companies can benefit from the transitional regime if they pre-registered their substances by 1 December 2008.

Substances fulfilling at least one of the following criteria may be considered as phase-in substances in accordance with REACH (Article 3(20)). 

  • Substances listed in the  European Inventory of  Existing  Commercial Chemical Substances (EINECS) 
  • Substances that have been manufactured in the EU (including the countries that joined on 1 January 2007) but have not been placed on the EU market after 1 June 1992
  • Substances that qualify as "no-longer polymer''

For these substances, the registration must be submitted by the following deadlines:

30 November 2010

Deadline for registration of substances manufactured or imported at 1000 tonnes or more per year, carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction substances above 1 tonne per year, and substances dangerous to aquatic organisms or the environment above 100 tonnes per year.

31 May 2013

Deadline for registration of substances manufactured or imported at 100-1000 tonnes per year.

31 May 2018

Deadline for registration of substances manufactured or imported at 1-100 tonnes per year.

Non-phase-in substances

All substances that do not fulfil any of the criteria for phase-in substances are considered as non-phase-in substances. Normally, non-phase-in substances have not been manufactured, placed on the market or used in the EU before 1 June 2008, unless they were notified under Directive 67/548/EEC.

Potential manufacturers and importers of non-phase-in substances have to submit an inquiry to ECHA and subsequently register the substance in accordance with REACH before they can manufacture or import the substance.

All substances notified under Directive 67/548/EEC (also called NONS) are considered to be registered under REACH and ECHA has assigned registration numbers to all the notifications. The owner of the notification can claim the registration number from ECHA.

Who needs to register?

The following actors in the supply chain must comply with the registration process:

  • EU manufacturers and importers of substances on their own or in a mixture
  • EU producers and importers of articles meeting the criteria explained in the Guidance for Substances in articles
  • "Only representatives" established in the EU and appointed by a manufacturer, formulator or article producer established outside the EU to fulfil the registration obligations of importers

Additional roles

Downstream users

Distributor / Retailer

Data holder