REACH compliance

Depending on the product that the importer is buying, he/she should know its obligations under REACH. If one of the obligations is that a substance has to be registered (e.g. because it contains substances intended to be released), then the importer should make sure that the substance is registered, or that the exporter appoints an only representative who registers the substance (although the latter is not very likely to happen in this case, in my opinion). In anyway it's always the EU company's obligation to meet the requirements under REACH, but the EU company might need extra information from it's supplier to know if and in what way the importer should undertake action to meet these requirements.

In any case the importer just wants to place safe products on the market and meet all EU requirements. In this matter he also wants to be sure that his products don't contain dangerous substances, which use is restricted on the European market (e.g. phthalates, azo-dyes etc.).These requirements were laid down in the so called 'dangerous substances Directive' 76/769/EEC), but these restrictions will be implemented in the REACH Regulation as per 1 June 2009. Of course an importer may require (certified) proof of the absence of possible dangerous substances (as is the case now, before the requirements are implemented in REACH).
by Ariane van Beuzekom, CBI