Glossary

Definitions according the REACh regulation Article 3:

actors in the supply chain:

all manufacturers and/or importers and/or downstream users in a supply chain.

agency:

the European Chemical Agency as established by this Regulation.

alloy:

a metallic material, homogenous on a macroscopic scale, consisting of two or more elements so combined that they cannot be readily separated by mechanical means.

article:

an object which during the production is given a special shape, surface, or design which determines its function to a greater degree than does its chemical composition.

competent authority:

the authority or authorities or bodies established by the Member States to carry out the obligations arising from this Regulation.

distributor:

any natural or legal person established within the Community, including a retailer, who only stores and places on the market a substance, on its own or in a preparation, for third parties.

downstream user:

any natural or legal person established within the Community, other than the manufacturer or the importer, who uses a substance, either on its own or in a preparartion, in the course of his industrial or professional activities. A distributor or a consumer is not a downstream user. A re-importer exempted pursuant to Article 2 shall be regarded as a downstream user.

exposure scenario:

the set of conditions, including operational conditions and risk management measures, that describe how the substance is manufactured or used during its life-cycle and how the manufacturer or importer controls, or recommends downstream users to control, exposures of humans and environment. These exposure scenarios may cover one specific process or use or several processes uses as appropriate.

full study report:

a complete and comprehensive description of the activity performed to generate the information. This covers the complete scientific paper as published in the literature describing the study performed or the full report prepared by the test house describing the study performed.

identified use:

a use of a substance on its own or in a preparation, or a use of a preparation, that is intended by an actor in the supply chain, including his own use, or that is made known to him in writing by an immediate downstream user.

import:

the physical introduction into the customs territory of the Community.

importer:

any natural or legal person established within the Community who is responsible for import.

intermediate:

a substance that is manufactured for and consumed in or used for chemical processing in order to be transformed into another substance (hereinafter referred to as synthesis).

1. Non-isolated intermediate: an intermediate that during synthesis is not intentionally removed (except for sampling) from the equipment in which the synthesis takes place. Such equipment includes the reaction vessel, its ancillary equipment, and any equipment through which the substance(s) pass(es) during the a continuous flow or batch process as well as the pipework for the transfer from one vessel to another for the purpose of the next reaction step, but it excludes tanks or other vessels in which the substance(s) are stored after the manufacture.
2. On-site isolated intermediate: an intermediate not meeting the criteria of a non-isolated intermediate and where the manufacture of the intermediate and the synthesis of (an)other substances(s) from that intermediate take place on the same site, operated by one or more legal entities.
3. Transported isolated-intermediate: an intermediate not meeting the criteria of a non-isolated intermediate and transported between or supplied to other sites.

manufacturer:

any natural or legal person established within the Community who manufactures a substance within the Community.

manufacturing:

production or extraction of substances in the natural state.

monomer:

a substance which is capable of forming covalent bonds with a sequence of additional like or unlike molecules under the conditions of the relevant polymer-forming reaction used for the particular process.

not chemically modified substance:

a substance whose chemical structure remains unchanged, even if it has undergone a chemical process or treatment, or a physical mineralogical transformation, for instance to remove impurities.

notified substance:

a substance for which a notification has been submitted and which could be placed on the market in accordance with Directive 67/548/EEC.

per year:

per calendar year, unless stated otherwise, for phase-in substances that have been imported or manufactured for at least three consecutive years, quantities per years shall be calculated on the basis of the average production or import volumes for the three preceding calendar years.

phase-in substances:

a substance which meats at least one of the following criteria:

1. it is listed in the European Inventory of Existing Commercial Chemical Substances (EINECS).
2. It was manufactured in the Community, or in the countries acceding to the European Union on 1 January 1995 or on 1 May 2004, but not placed on the market by the manufacturer or importer, at least once in the 15 years before the entry into force of this Regulation, provided the manufacturer or importer has documentary evidence of this.
3. It was placed on the market in the Community, or in the countries acceding to the European Union on 1 January 1995 or on 1 May 2004, before entry into force of this Regulation by the manufacturer or importer and was considered as having been notified in accordance with the first indent of Article 8 (1) of Directive 67/548/ECC but does not meet the definition of a polymer as set out in this Regulation, provided the manufacturer or importer has documentary evidence of this.

placing on the market:

supplying or making available, whether in return for payment or free of charge, to a third party. Import shall be deemed to be placing on the market.

polymer:

means a substance consisting of molecules characterised by the sequence of one or more types of monomer units. Such molecules must be distributed over a range of molecular weights wherein differences in the molecular weight are primarily attributable to differences in the number of monomer units. A polymer comprises the following:

1. a simple weight majority of molecules containing at least three monomer units which are covalently bound to at least one other monomer unit or rather reactant
2. less than a simple weight majority of molecules of the same molecular weight. In the context of this definition a “monomer unit” means the reacted form of a monomer substance in a polymer.

preparation:

a mixture or solution composed of two or more substances.

producer of an article:

any natural or legal person who makes or assembles an article within the Community.

product and process orientated research and development:

any scientific development related to product development or the further development of a substance, on its own, in preparations or in articles in the course of which pilot plant or production trials are used to develop the production process and / or to test the fields of application of the substance.

recipient of a substance or a preparation:

a downstream user or a distributor being supplied with a substance or a preparation.

recipient of an article:

an industrial or professional user, or a distributor, being supplied with an article, but does not include consumers.

registrant:

the manufacturer or the importer of a substance or the producer or importer of an article submitting a registration for a substance.

registrant´s own use:

an industrial or professional use by the registrant.

restriction:

any condition for or prohibiting of the manufacture, use or placing on the market.

robust study summary:

a detailed summary of the objectives, methods, results and conclusions of full study report providing sufficient information to make an independent assessment of the study minimising the need to consult the full study report.

scientific research and development:

any scientific experimentation, analysis or chemical research carried out under controlled conditions in a volume less than one tonne per year.

site:

a single location, in which, if there is more than one manufacturer of (a) substance(s), certain infrastructure and facilities are shared.

SME:

small and medium-sized enterprises as defined in the Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprise.

study summary:

a summary of the objectives, methods, results and conclusions of a full study report providing sufficient information to make an assessment of the relevance of the study.

supplier of a substance or a preparation:

any manufacturer, importer, downstream user or distributor placing on the market a substance, on its own or in a preparation.

supplier of an article:

any producer or importer of an article, distributor or other actor in the supply chain placing an article on the market.

substance:

a chemical element and its compounds in the natural state or obtained by any manufacturing process, including any additive necessary to preserve its stability and any impurity deriving from the process used, but excluding any solvent which may be separated without affecting the stability of the substance or changing its composition.

substances which occur in nature:

a naturally occurring substance as such, unprocessed or processed only by manual, mechanical or gravitational means, by dissolution in water, by flotation, by extraction with water, by steam distillation or by heating solely to remote water, or which is extracted from air by any means.

use and exposure category:

an exposure scenario covering a wide range of processes or uses, where the processes or uses are communicated, as minimum, in terms of the brief general description use.

use:

any processing, formulations, consumption, storage, keeping, treatment, filling into containers, transfer from one container to another, mixing, production of an article or any other utilisation.