OREANDA-NEWS. On September 10, 2008 The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development launched a series of training programmes and workshops across Ukraine to help the country’s industry understand the impact of REACH – the new European Union regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals, reported the press-centre of EBRD.

This important initiative has the support of the Ministry of Industrial Policy, the Ministry of Economy, the European Commission in Kiev, the European Business Association and the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine.

The REACH regulation requires all companies exporting chemicals, mixtures of chemicals or products that release chemicals to ‘pre-register’ their substances with the European Chemicals Agency in Finland by 30 November 2008 – or to have confirmed that their European customers have done so.

The training programme will begin with a high level seminar for industry leaders, ministries and trade associations in Kiev on 22 September. This is then followed by a series of practical workshops for industry – In Kiev in September followed by Lviv, Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk and Kharkov in October. A further workshop on 23 September is aimed at government regulators and ministries.

The workshops will be delivered by WSP Environmental - a major international consulting company and one of the world’s leading experts on REACH – together with the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce, international law firm Clifford Chance and local consultants CT Centre.
Dr. Trevor Kilner, project manager for the training programme from WSP Environmental encourages industry to be sure they are fully prepared for REACH, and to sign up for the courses: “REACH is one of the more complex pieces of legislation passed by Brussels. And it’s crucial that Ukraine industry has taken action by the 30 November. We’d encourage as many businesses exporting products to come along and learn more from these free workshops.”

“Taking action today means competitive advantage for Ukrainian business. But failure to register is likely to mean that Ukraine’s export business to Europe will be seriously curtailed”, says Andre Kuusvek Country Director for EBRD.

WSP Environmental is a global environmental consultancy, providing a comprehensive range of market-leading, commercially orientated environmental services to many of the world’s leading businesses. WSP Environmental works across all sectors and is a world leading expert on REACH. Since its inception in 1995, the firm now employs more than 1,000 environmental specialists worldwide.

The firm has international expertise in balancing clients’ commercial requirements with the need to satisfy governmental and regulatory controls. WSP Environmental was awarded the ‘Environmental Adviser of the Year’ at The Acquisitions Monthly 2007 Awards.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is the biggest financial investor in Ukraine. As of July 2008, it had committed over EUR3.74 billion through almost 172 projects.

*Note for Editors
REACH, the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals, is the new European Union (EU) Chemicals Regulation. It introduces major changes to the way chemicals are managed throughout Europe. It aims to provide greater protection to human health and the environment where chemicals are being produced or used.

The regulations are primarily aimed at European Chemical manufacturers. But they also cover chemicals manufactured outside the EU and then exported into the European Union. Companies exporting chemicals have to make sure that their products are ‘pre-registered’ with the European Chemicals Agency by 30 November 2008.

After this all companies making or exporting products to Europe collaborate to share hazard information and submit a comprehensive dossier to the European Chemicals Agency between 2012 and 2018 – depending on the annual volume produced or imported into Europe per manufacturer and per importer.