General Information on the Implementation of the REACH Directive (EC 1907/2006) at Saarstahl AG Preliminary Remarks This customer information has been compiled by the staff at Saarstahl AG who are responsible for implementing the REACH directive. The information is intended to advise users of products manufactured and placed on the market by Saarstahl AG of the basic principles of the REACH directive. REACH On 1st June 2007, the new European chemicals directive REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) came into effect in all member states of the European Union. The directive aims to ensure that all substances available on the European market are subject to registration and control at a central chemical agency based in Helsinki. In doing so, REACH basically covers all substances that are manufactured in the EU, imported into the EU or that are used in the EU, irrespective of whether they have hazardous properties or not. Only very few substances covered by other special legal regulations are to be exempted. Metals and metal alloys and therefore also steels, slag and other by-products of the iron and steel manufacturing process are therefore also subject to the regulations in the REACH directive. The REACH directive is not only aimed at the manufacturers and importers of substances. When the substances are subsequently applied by “downstream users”, they too, must ensure that their application is taken into account in the registration of substances according to the terms of the directive. BASIC ELEMENTS The REACH system consists of three basic elements: 1. Registration: All substances of which more than one ton is manufactured or imported into the EU annually, are subject to compulsory registration. This duty applies to all companies based in the EU, that produce or import such substances in amounts exceeding one ton per year. For registration purposes, a registration dossier must be created at the European agency for chemical substances. The technical dossier stored in the registration dossier provides information on the properties of the relevant substance as well as on safe handling. A registration number is issued. If the annual tonnage exceeds 10 t, a substance safety report giving a concrete description of measures for risk management must be available for the various applications in which the substance is used. Substances that are not registered may not be manufactured or marketed under the above conditions. For substances already manufactured and marketed when the REACH directive comes into effect, certain transitional periods apply for registration providing that preliminary registration has taken place by 01.12.2008. 2. Evaluation: The purpose of evaluation is to ensure that the registration dossiers are checked. During dossier evaluation, spot checks of the contents of the dossiers which have been handed in are carried out. During substance evaluation, individual substances are examined if it is suspected that they pose a risk to human health or to the environment. 3. Authorisation: Only substances with particularly alarming properties require authorisation, i.e. substances that have been classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic, reproductively toxic, persistent or bio-accumulating with highly toxic properties. The necessity for the authorisation process is irrespective of whether or not the minimum amount defined has been exceeded. Appendix XIV of the REACH directive sums up the substances that are subject to an authorisation process. The first substances requiring compulsory authorisation will be made known in 2009. At the current state of knowledge, it can be assumed that products of Saarstahl AG will not be affected by this. Downstream users The REACH directive defines users of substances as “downstream users”. All companies based in the EU that use substances either individually or in preparations as part of their industrial or commercial activities are downstream users in this sense. Traders are not considered to be “downstream users” (see the next paragraph, however). The differentiation of an importer is also important. If a user imports a substance himself from a non-EU country, where this substance is concerned, the duties of an importer under the terms of the REACH directive apply to him rather than those of a downstream user. By including the whole distribution chain of a substance, the aim is to establish a comprehensive risk management system throughout the whole life cycle of a substance. A downstream user does not have to carry out any registration or preliminary registration of the substance of his own. However, he does have the duty to check the information he receives from his suppliers to ensure that the intended application of the relevant substance is covered by the registration obtained by the manufacturer or importer. If this is not the case, in the case of a hazardous substance, a substance safety report must be drawn up and maintained. Communication along the supply chain Under this heading, the REACH directive defines certain duties regarding the exchange of information along the supplier chain, not only from the supplier to the recipient but also from the recipient to the supplier. In the communication from the supplier to the recipient, the supplier draws up a safety data sheet if the relevant substance is a hazardous substance or hazardous preparation. This must be communicated to the recipient. In the case of substances that are subject to registration, the registration number, application and exposure scenarios must be given along with advice on risk management. If the substance does not fulfil the criteria for classification as hazardous, a certain minimum amount of information must still be communicated. In the communication from a recipient to a supplier directly upstream (who may also be a trader), the recipient must also provide the supplier with further information regarding the application and processing which exceeds in the risk management measures described in the safety data sheet or which may call these into question. Furthermore, new information regarding hazardous properties must be passed on irrespective of the application concerned. Traders are obliged to pass on information in both directions along the supply chain. Safety data sheet According to the REACH directive, the obligation to draw up a safety data sheet applies to all substances that fulfil the criteria for classification pursuant to RL 67/548/EC irrespective of the threshold amount of one ton per year. Safety data sheets must also be drawn up for persistent, bio-accumulating and toxic substances as well as for substances on the list of candidates for necessary authorisation. In the case of hazardous substances, exposure scenarios must be drawn up to describe how the relevant substance should be handled. These are to be kept as attachments to the safety data sheet and communicated to the downstream user. Any additional factual changes in the structure of safety data sheets are to be taken into account. Implementation of the directive Saarstahl AG intends to fulfil its obligations as a manufacturer and importer of substances, preparations and articles under the terms of the REACH directive. Brief, general information on the use of our substances and preparations will be recorded in the registration dossier where it is known and where we, for our part, do not advise against this type of application. Furthermore, general categories of use and exposure for the steel industry and its downstream users will be drawn up and passed on to your company so that your applications can be checked. We kindly request that you refrain from providing us with information about your own particular application to us in advance. Substances, preparations and articles from other manufacturers are also used in the manufacture of our products. Saarstahl AG will contact the suppliers in order to ensure that both our application as well as further applications at our customers are taken into account in the registration. At the current point in time, however, we cannot provide a guarantee of unlimited supply of the present range of products to our customers until we have received the corresponding promises to deliver the required ingredients or products from our suppliers. We would also like to point out that costs incurred due to registration can lead to price increases in our products. In the event of unusually high registration costs in any individual case, we reserve the right to charge accordingly. Additional information This customer information only provides an initial overview of the REACH directive. It is in no way intended to be exhaustive. Although due care has been taken in drawing up this information, no guarantee for its correctness can be given. For more in-depth information, we recommend the following websites: http://reach.bdi.info: Information platform of the BDI http://ecb.jrc.it/REACH/: European Chemicals Bureau website http://www.reach-info.de: Information platform of the German Federal Environment Agency http://www.reach-helpdesk.de: National Reach helpdesk of the German Federal Agency for work safety and occupational medicine http://www.reach-net.com: Knowledge database of the region of North Rhine-Westphalia in cooperation with various business organisations For further information, in particular regarding the implementation of the REACH directive at Saarstahl AG, please do not hesitate to contact us at the following email address: reach@saarstahl.com Revision 0 VK, September 2007