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Guide on the application of REACH Regulation

    This definition has a great impact.

               ■	 Polymer emulsions, solutions or suspensions and polymer based products such as
                    paints, inks, and coatings shall be regarded as “formulations” or “preparations’ and
                    not substances or polymers.

               ■	 Unbound additives, solvents or emulsion stabilizers (not polymer stabilizers) will have to
                    be registered if manufactured or imported into the EU in quantities > 1 ton/year.

               ■	 Additives which are required to stabilize the polymer itself, such as antioxidant will be
                    considered as a part of the polymer itself and need not be registered separately.

               ■	 Plastic toys will be considered as articles like plastic furniture or components of car,
                    airplanes etc. [shape to determine the function of the material to a greater degree
                    than its chemical composition].

               	 Polymer may further be blended with colorants, stabilizers, surfactants, lubricants,
                    thickeners, antistatic agents, compatibilisers, antifogging agents, flame retardants,
                    nucleating agents etc.

               ■	 Each of these must also be considered for registration.

               ■	 Thus importer will have to know the identity and quantity of each in order to determine
                    its pre-registration and registration requirements.

               	 Article 6(3)(a): Further additives such as those mentioned earlier the 2% criteria would
                    not apply, because the additives are not chemically bound to the polymer.

               ■	 Exceptions to the above rule are unbound heat stabilizers, light stabilizers, and/or
                    oxidants which do not need to be registered, because they are considered to be
                    part of polymer substances.

2.4.2	 No Longer Polymers (NLP)

    	 ‘No longer polymers’ is a category of substances that were regarded as polymers at the time
         that the EU 1967 dangerous substances directive was adopted.

    	 They were therefore not required to be notified to the EINECS (European Inventory of Existing
         Commercial Substances) inventory.

    	 In 1993, a new definition of polymers (same as that used in REACH above) was adopted that
         disqualified these substances [more than 700 so far] from being classified as polymers.

    	 Under REACH therefore the exemptions provided to ‘Polymers’ would not be applicable to
         NLP and these would have to be treated like substances and would require registration.

    	 However as earlier they were not included in EINECS, they would not be considered as
         ‘Phase-in substances’ and would therefore not be able to get the benefit of Pre-registration
         and extended registration deadlines.

    	 This situation has now been corrected and NLP will be treated as ‘Phase-in substances’
         provided that

               ■	 the substances had been placed on the EU market between 18 September 1981 and
                    31 October 1993;

               ■	 they were previously considered to be polymers under the notification rules for EINECS;

               ■	 under the seventh amendment of Directive 67548/EEC they meet the criteria for
                    classification as ‘no longer polymers’.

    	 A list of ‘no longer polymers’ has been established. This is non-exhaustive and companies are
         still able to request inclusion provided they hold the necessary evidence.

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