ECHA renews its support to Lead Registrants in preparation for 2013

ECHA/NA/11/55
News Alert
Helsinki, 19 December 2011
Media enquiries: ECHA Press

ECHA encourages Lead Registrants to make themselves known in order to benefit from special support for the preparation of the next registration deadline, 31 May 2013.

To specifically assist Lead Registrants in their SIEF activities and their preparation for the next registration deadline, ECHA is offering a series of support activities, which includes two Lead Registrants' workshops in 2012, a series of webinars and other training opportunities. ECHA has published the preliminary schedule for the webinars in 2011-2013 and a dedicated webpage for the first Lead Registrant workshop taking place from 2 to 3 February 2012. All webinars and the workshop will be video-recorded and subsequently published on the ECHA website.

As an additional incentive for SME lead registrants facing the challenges of leading a SIEF, the Agency is offering to reimburse the travel and accommodation costs of SMEs wishing to attend the Lead Registrant workshop, subject to the availability of places and an eligibility check.

These events will be by invitation only to Lead Registrants who have first identified themselves via the ECHA website. ECHA would like to emphasise that companies notifying themselves as Lead Registrants do not take any extra responsibilities beyond the ones already outlined by the REACH Regulation. 

ECHA will also publish the identity of the nominated Lead Registrants subject to their individual agreement in order to further facilitate SIEF formation. (Note that as a consequence of agreeing to publish its name, the Lead Registrant would not be able claim the company name confidential in the registration dossier.)

Notifying as a Lead Registrant not only ensures that companies will be eligible for dedicated assistance but also helps ECHA identify the specific concerns that registrants may encounter in their SIEFs. Furthermore, by informing ECHA of the progress made within a SIEF, registrants can importantly give certainty to the market that their substances will be registered and will also help the Agency to better anticipate the number of substances to be submitted ahead of the next registration deadline. For this reason, if the role of Lead Registrant is transferred from one company to another, ECHA would highly appreciate being informed of such a change via the web form.