Survey reveals lack of REACH preparedness

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20 August 2008 News

A recent survey by IPC on REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) preparedness in the North American and European interconnect industry has produced some striking results, revealing that more than 40% of manufacturing and purchasing personnel have no understanding of the REACH regulation as it affects their companies.

The same holds true for nearly one-third of senior management and 29% of engineering personnel. Even 28% of environment, health and safety personnel have no understanding of REACH's impact. The full report can be accessed at www.ipc.org/REACHsurveyreport.

The new European Union (EU) legislation took effect on 1 June 2007, and assigns greater responsibility to industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide safety information on the substances. In contrast to RoHS, which covers a narrow scope of substances in electronic products encompassing about 100 different chemicals, REACH covers substances in nearly all applications, totalling about 30 000 unique chemicals. While RoHS can address entire classes of substances at a time, REACH addresses them each individually. Where RoHS requires supplier-to-customer communications, the REACH regulation makes bidirectional communication throughout the supply chain imperative.

"REACH will have a far-reaching effect on any company that buys, sells or uses chemicals," said Tony Hilvers, vice president of industry programmes for IPC. "Inevitably, all companies that use chemicals or make products that contain chemicals will be affected… and that pretty much sums up the entire electronics supply chain. The survey clearly indicates that our industry is woefully unprepared for the hit it is about to take."

The electronic survey, sent to executives throughout the electronic interconnect supply chain in North America and Europe, reveals that even with a deadline for pre-registration of substances quickly approaching, only 18,3% of companies have identified and/or inventoried all substances in their products. In addition, only 60,5% of chemical supplier respondents are planning to register or pre-register substances at all.

Stepping up efforts to help electronics companies prepare for REACH, IPC has scheduled a number of programmes in the coming months, including webcasts and meetings addressing the relevant issues, as well as establishing a supply chain task force to help companies establish a path forward in addressing the impacts of REACH.

For more information visit www.ipc.org

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Survey reveals lack of REACH preparedness

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