. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/W/289 
26 June 2008 
 
 (08-3065) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   Spanish 
  
 
SYSTEM FOR THE REGISTRATION, EVALUATION, AUTHORIZATION 
AND RESTRICTION OF CHEMICALS (REACH) 
 
Communication from Argentina
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 25 June 2008,  is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Argentina . 
 
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 1. Argentina wishes to reiterate its concern a bout the EC's system for the Registration, 
Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemi cals (REACH), as this system continues to have 
serious transparency problems which will almost ce rtainly distort competition in trade in chemical 
substances and preparations, while detracting from th e system's objective which is to protect health 
and the environment. 
2. The recent introduction of the pre-regist ration period for chemical substances and 
preparations has highlighted the limited capacity of the EC authorities and the European Chemicals 
Agency (ECHA) to provide adequate technical assi stance to potential users.  When difficulties arise 
due to the complexity of the REACH Regulation, the lack of proper technical assistance serves to 
heighten the confusion and concern of companies se eking to comply with REACH, particularly those 
that are small and medium-sized.  In addition to be ing faced with costs that are difficult to estimate, 
these companies also suffer from a lack of straightfo rward information on the way the system works.  
This situation constitutes a serious impediment to  the continued presence of such companies in the 
European market. 
3. Argentina, via its WTO TBT enquiry point, sent two questionnaires, dated 21 April and 
29 May 2008, to the EC's WTO TBT enquiry point, containing specific and basic questions on the 
functioning of REACH, including on how a company can access the pre-registration form.  The same questions were sent to the Community authorities.  In both cases, they remain unanswered, and the 
problem is compounded by the recent introduction of  the pre-registration period.  We call upon the 
EC delegation to reply promptly to these questionnaires. 
4. The inadequacy of the techni cal assistance provided by the ECHA help desk is a further 
problem which came to light following an enquiry made by the Argentine private sector.  On 28 March 2008, the Argentine Chamber of Chem ical and Petrochemical Industries sent the 
ECHA help desk (helpdesk@echa.eu ropa.eu) a questionnaire containing six basic queries, none of 
which were answered.  The help desk's only resp onse was to refer the Chamber to a number of 
websites containing REACH information;  these failed to resolve any of its queries, which remain 
outstanding.  Furthermore, the help desk failed to identify the language in which the questionnaire 
was written, which is particularly worrying since Sp anish is one of the official languages of the EC. G/TBT/W/289 
Page 2  
 
  5. Consequently, the only accessible source of information is the REACH Information 
Portal (PIR) of the Spanish Ministry of the E nvironment.  This website provides links to full 
information on REACH, but is covered by the following disclaimer: 
The purpose of this page is to provide info rmation concerning the REACH Regulation;  its 
content is  not legally binding.  Only the t ext of the Regulation has legal force and this body 
does not therefore assume any legal responsib ility for the information on this page. 
6. The circumstances described above clearly show th at in its current state REACH runs the risk 
of becoming an unnecessary de facto barrier to trade;   serious gaps in transparency are becoming 
apparent as the deadlines provided fo r in the Regulation are reached. 
7. In short, the Regulation is complex and unclear, and the technical assistance mechanisms are 
ineffective.  All of this genera tes significant confusion and concern amongst companies that are trying 
to comply with the Regulation. 
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