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ArcelorMittal is actively engaged in the REACH and GHS processes

Protecting people and the environment

ArcelorMittal supports the European regulation of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)1, which entered into force on 1 June 2007 and the Globally Harmonized System, already implemented in Europe since 20 January 2009. Through the regulation called Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP)2. The final rule in USA was published in the federal register on 26 March, 2012.

Companies from the ArcelorMittal group, manufacturing, importing or using chemical substances covered by REACH (in Europe) and GHS (worldwide), are concerned by this new regulations and will make every effort to comply with it, without compromising their commercial relationships with customers.

ArcelorMittal is actively engaged in the REACH and GHS processes and ensures that the manufactured or imported substances on their own or in mixtures are REACH registered (in Europe) or classified according to GHS rules (worldwide). ArcelorMittal (in Europe) will also give notification of any substances of REACH candidate list in articles, according to REACH requirements.

1 Regulation (EC) n° 1907/2006 of The European Parliament and of The Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC, published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 29th April 2007, L.136/3.
2 Regulation (EC) no 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures, amending and repealing Directives 67/548/EEC and 1999/45/EC, and amending Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006

What is REACH?

This regulation rules the use and placing on the European market of certain chemical substances, on their own or contained in preparations or articles, with the aim of identifying their hazardous properties and recommending appropriate risk management measures all along the supply chain.

Accordingly, any legal or physical person established in Europe who manufactures or imports a substance covered by REACH, either on its own or in a preparation or article, in quantities of one tonne or more per year, shall submit a registration file to the European chemical agency.

If chemicals are not registered in accordance with REACH then they will not be allowed to be manufactured or imported in the EU.

  1. Aims:

    2. The new regulation aims to improve the protection of human health and the environment while maintaining competitiveness, and enhancing the innovative capability of the EU industry. REACH will furthermore give greater responsibility to industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide safety information that will be passed down the supply chain

  2. Who is affected by REACH?

    3. Everyone in the supply chain dealing with chemical substances is affected. There are obligations for manufacturers and importers of chemical substances based in the EU and for downstream users who process chemicals, produce preparations or use the formulated products in their businesses.

  3. The different processes of REACH:
        4. Registration
      • For all substances produced or imported in quantities of 1 tonne or more per year, manufacturers and importers must prepare a registration dossier to be submitted to the european chemicals agency (ECHA). It is industry's task to gather and assess the required information (requirements mainly based on volume, comprises data on physicochemical, toxicological and ecotoxicological properties). In addition to these data on the substance, individual identified uses of downstream users throughout the supply chain as well as assessments of the associated risks and safety measures derived from these must be specified. If further testing needs to be undertaken a testing plan is required as well.
      • For substances with annual volumes of more than 10 tonnes, the assessment of the safe handling (chemical safety assessment - CSA) must be documented in a chemical safety report (CSR).
        Evaluation
      • Dossier evaluation: The member states authorities can check the compliance of any registration dossier with the requirements of REACH, and examine and endorse the testing proposals provided by the industry.
      • Substance evaluation: The member states authorities are allowed to examine registration dossiers in order to evaluate whether a substance presents a risk to human health or the environment, and to determine the need for possible authorisation or restriction of marketing and use.
        Authorisation
      • Authorisation will be required for each use of a substance belonging to specific groups, i.e. substances of very high concern - CMRs of categories 1 and 2 (carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for the reproduction), PBTs (persistent, bioaccumulable and Toxic), vPvB (very persistent and very bioaccumulable) and other substances identified as causing serious and irreversible effects on humans and the environment.
      • Authorisation will be granted for these uses if the manufacturer or importer is able to demonstrate that risks can be adequately controlled. If such evidence cannot be provided, authorisation can only be granted if an analysis shows that the socio-economic advantages of the specific use are predominant.
        Restriction
      • If a risk is identified as not being adequately controlled, a proposal to restrict marketing and use of a substance can be made by the commission or a member state. The decisions on restriction are taken by the commission in consultation with the Member States.
What does ArcelorMittal expect from its suppliers?

Any Legal or physical person established in European Economic Area (EEA) who manufactures or imports a phase-in substance covered by REACH, either on its own or in a preparation or article, in quantities of one ton or more per year, shall submit a registration file to the European chemical agency.

  1. REACH pre-registration duties

    All phase-in substances currently in use in the EEA must have been pre-registered by each manufacturer and importer between 1 June 2008 and 30 November 2008.
    Failure to pre-register means that you are no longer able to manufacture, import or supply in the EEA a substance without a full registration. Before full registration, manufacturer or importer shall make an inquiry.

  2. REACH registration:
    • First registration deadline: 30 November 2010

      • All phase-in substances above 1000 tons, substances of very high concern above 1 ton and substances dangerous for the environment above 100 tons shall be REACH registered.

      The registrants shall provide physicochemical, toxicological and eco-toxicological information, according to the tonnage manufactured or imported, and shall integrate this information into a chemical safety report for all substances subject to registration in quantities of 10 tons or more per year.

      Suppliers based outside EEA shall appoint an only representative in the EEA to register.

      In the registration dossier, suppliers have to include references to ArcelorMittal's uses of each purchased substance. Therefore, this type of requests has to be sent to rip.reach@arcelormittal.com; contact ArcelorMittal for further information.

    • Next registration deadlines

      • Phase-in substances above 100 tons shall be registered end of May 2013

      Phase-in substances above 1 ton shall be registered end of May 2018

    • Substances in articles

      • From the date of inclusion: EEA suppliers of articles which contain substances on the REACH candidate list in a concentration above 0.1% (w/w) have to provide sufficient information to allow safe use of the article to their customers or upon request, to a consumer within 45 days of the receipt of the request. This information must contain as a minimum the name of the substance.
      From June 2011: Notification of substance of the REACH candidate list contained in articles > 0.1% (w/w). The notification process shall be done 6 months after each update of the REACH candidate list

  3. CLP notification deadline: 3 January 2011

    All substances which are not REACH registered (for example: exempted substances under REACH, substances under 1000 tons) are subject to CLP notification. The notification is independent of the tonnage band.

    ArcelorMittal wants to be sure that the substances needed for the production of its products will continue to be available - the last thing wanted is for any link in the supply chain to break.

To check the Reach and GHS/CLP compliance, ArcelorMittal requests from its suppliers to fill in the following questionnaires and to send required information to rip.reach@arcelormittal.com:

- Reach and GHS/CLP questionnaire for substances and mixtures
- Reach and GHS/CLP questionnaire for articles

What is ArcelorMittal doing?

According to the guidance on requirements for substances in articles, rolled steels (wire rods, steel cord, rebar’s, hot rolled coils etc.) and thus coated steels are articles.

  1. ArcelorMittal as downstream user
    • Checks that substances on their own or in mixtures are REACH registered or CLP notified
    • Checks presence of substances of the REACH candidate list on their own,  in mixtures or in articles
  2. ArcelorMittal as manufacturer/importer of substances, mixtures and articles
    • Registered or will register manufactured (for instance some iron and steel by-products) or imported (for instance ferro-alloys and other raw materials) substances,
    • CLP notified non registered substances
    • Will notify any substances of the REACH candidate list contained in articles, according to REACH requirements.
    • Informs customers on the presence of a substance of the reach candidate list above 0.1% in articles
    • Carries constantly out a purchasing risk assessment, in order to make sure that the consequences of REACH for our upstream supply chain will remain under control.

Developed a web tool to:

- download safety data sheets for manufactured substances and mixtures
- download safety data sheets type documents for articles

The safety data sheets web tool is available through the Partner Centre
 The procedure to get access to this web tool is described here

What does ArcelorMittal expect from its customers?

ArcelorMittal shall include information about the safe use of substances. To do that, ArcelorMittal needs feedback from its customers about the way(s) they use substances manufactured by ArcelorMittal in order to include them in the chemical safety reports (CSR).

What about GHS?

United Nations globally harmonized system of classification & labelling of chemicals (GHS):

Heads of the state at the 1992 Rio summit called for the development of a globally harmonized system (GHS) for the classification & labelling of chemicals and writing of safety data sheets (SDS), including appropriate training and capacity building.

The GHS was adopted by the UN economic and social council subcommittee in December 2002 and endorsed by the UN committee on the transport of dangerous goods and the GHS.

The GHS addresses classification of chemicals by types of hazard and proposes harmonized hazard communication elements, including labels and safety data sheets.

It aims at ensuring that information on physical hazards and toxicity from chemicals to be available in order to enhance the protection of human health and the environment during handling, transport and use of these chemicals. The GHS also provides a basis for harmonization of rules and regulations on chemicals at national, regional and worldwide level, an important factor also for trade facilitation.

The first edition of the GHS, which was intended to serve as the initial basis for the global implementation of the system, was published in 2003. The second revised edition of the GHS will be published in 2007.

While governments, regional institutions and international organizations are the primary audiences for the GHS, it also contains sufficient context and guidance for those in industry who will ultimately be implementing the requirements which have been adopted.

The plan of Implementation of the world summit on sustainable development, adopted in Johannesburg in 2002, encourages countries to implement the GHS as soon as possible  
To be up to date on the GHS worldwide implementation, visit: www.unece.org

What about ECHA?

ECHA: European chemicals agency

The European chemicals agency is established to facilitate the registration tasks (including establishing and maintaining the necessary databases). The member states still have the responsibility for evaluation and authorisation procedures. The final decision on authorisation will be taken by the commission, in consultation with the member states. Go to the official ECHA website:http://echa.europa.eu.

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