The obligations of the downstream user in the REACH communication
REACH knowledge base – The obligations of downstream users in REACH communication
The obligations of downstream users in REACH communication in practice
In practice, you must ensure that your supplier knows and complies with the requirements of the REACH Regulation. You should request a supplier statement confirming that they are familiar with these requirements and comply with them. In addition, they should also declare that they check whether their own suppliers carry out their activities in accordance with the REACH Regulation. The statement should also cover the REACH registration status of the supplied substances. Information on the possible reasons for non-registration may be particularly relevant (e.g. grounds for exemption).
You can provide information to your suppliers on your identified uses and conditions of use, including risk management measures, enabling them to add this information to the registration dossier. This is not mandatory, but if the supplier includes your identified use in the documentation, it can greatly assist you in meeting your obligations. You should also be prepared to answer questions about the identified uses.
Providing information regarding articles
If you manufacture an article containing a substance on the Candidate List at a concentration of 0.1% w/w or more, you are obliged to provide information on safe use to the recipients of the article.
Receiving information from users
Buyers can also provide information about their own use and request that their use be included as an identified use.
If you supplied a mixture to your buyer and provided a safety data sheet with an exposure scenario, such a request may indicate that your buyer’s conditions of use are not covered by your exposure scenario.
These requests must either be forwarded to the supplier or handled by you within your own responsibilities (e.g. by updating the safety data sheet).
Providing information to suppliers on new hazard information
Articles 34 and 38 of REACH set out obligations regarding communication where new information becomes available.
“New information” means information relevant to the substance or mixture you are using that was not previously communicated to you by your supplier and is not available in public databases or the literature. For non-classified substances and mixtures, you may not receive any information from your supplier at all. In this case, the obligation to inform suppliers about “new information” also applies. New information may include observations on adverse effects on human health or the environment (e.g. observations on acute health effects in the workplace) or, if you have carried out testing of substances and mixtures, the results of those tests.
All participants in the supply chain — including distributors — must communicate such information received from buyers to the next actor or distributor upstream in the supply chain.
If you classify a substance and your classification differs from that of all your suppliers, you must report your classification to ECHA. If the reason for the differing classification is a different interpretation of existing data, it must be notified to the Agency. However, if you use new data for classification that were not previously considered by your supplier, you must also inform the supplier. All notifications to the Agency should be made via REACH-IT.
The obligation to notify a different classification applies only to substances used in quantities of at least 1 tonne per year, either on their own or in a mixture (REACH Article 38(5)). If you are exempt from preparing a downstream user chemical safety report because you use the substance or mixture in quantities of less than 1 tonne per year, you should still report a different classification even if you use less than 1 tonne of the substance annually.
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