The Industry Association BITKOM and the Collecting Society ZPÜ have concluded a new agreement about the extension of copyright levies in Germany. According to the decision of the Arbeitskreis Urheberrechtsabgaben (Committee of Industry Associations and Collecting Societies) of 13 January 2010, the new contract, including new tariffs for USB-Sticks and Memory Cards, is released. The [...]

Special information obligations apply to substances in finished articles suspected to be particularly hazardous (candidate substances), according to Article 33 of the REACH regulation. The respective substances are published by ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) in the so-called candidate list. If an article contains one of these substances in a concentration of more than of 0,1 [...]

The so-called candidate list names substances suspected to be particularly hazardous because they manifest an extraordinary risk potential for man and environment. Substances which are named in the candidate list, are subject to special information obligations according to article 33 of the REACH regulation. Particularly hazardous substances will be listed step by step in the [...]

According to REACH, every substance can only be registered once. Therefore, REACH foresees the cooperation of manufacturers and importers for registration, even though they might be competitors on the market. REACH offers the possibility of a joint registration in a consortium. By this means, possible risks resulting from the generation of a joint technical dossier [...]

December 1, 2010, coming closer, enforcement starts playing a larger role in the discussion about REACH compliance. In various member states of the European Union, commissions of either government or industry associations have initiated reports on the national situation. The European Commission, however, triggered theses initiatives by a report on enforcement[1], with a specific focus [...]

Manufacturers or importers who have pre-registered an identical substance have to share data. According to the REACH regulation they become automatically a member of a SIEF (Substance Information Exchange Forum). In order to protect the confidentiality interests of a company and to regard the competition law, a trustee is needed. It is only via a [...]

Companies without a legal presence in the EU, producing substances or substances in preparations and at the same time importing them into the EU, have to register these substances according to REACH. However, the companies cannot do the registration themselves. Besides the importer, an Only Representative can be put in charge of the registration. The [...]