What impact will REACH have on SMEs?
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are a vital part of the EU chemicals industry. Many of the SMEs that will be affected by the present legislative proposal are ‘downstream users’, i.e. companies that buy chemicals and use them as ingredients in their own products or use chemicals in an industrial or professional way. As a result of their position in the value-added chain, most chemicals will already be registered when they are utilised by downstream users. When assessing risks, manufacturers and importers must address the uses identified by downstream users. This will help to ensure a high level of chemical safety for downstream users and will reduce their costs. Downstream users who wish to keep their uses secret can choose to do their own risk assessments.
