Why you should join the REACH Mn Consortium.

REACH places significant demands on both large and small organisations; these duties being prohibitively expensive for all but the largest organisations to manage wholly by themselves. The metals industries will generally be subject to the shorter registration deadlines, the first being December 2010 for substances manufactured/imported at ≥1000 tonnes per year.

REACH encourages co-operation through the mandatory SIEF process and a collective approach to the sharing of data. Forming a consortium is an extension of this process, but holding some advantages over the SIEF stage.

The advantages of joining the REACH Mn Consortium can be summarised thus:

• Share knowledge and technical resources in an effective and efficient way.
• Receive support and training for your organisation.
• Budget and plan for compliance in a transparent and managed structure.
• Develop data that can be used for future global environmental regulatory needs.
• Work with many related substances together, compared with one substance per SIEF. 
• Start work sooner (before the SIEF stage commences in 2009).
• Develop and submit joint testing proposals to ECHA.
• Focus on joint registration and benefit from reduced registration fees.
• Propose and, where agreed, begin testing in time for registration.
• A strong, collective approach to regulatory authorities for decisions made jointly.
• The Lead Registrant will receive a ready-to-submit e-version of the registration dossier. 

REACH emphasises "NO DATA NO MARKET". This means that it is essential for the EU supply chains to ensure REACH is both understood and acted on in a timely way to guarantee that any business interruption is minimised once enforcement kicks-in at the end of 2008.

To offer the best technical support service, and to ensure that competent testing is available to its members, the Mn Consortium has signed an agreement with Harlan Laboratories, formerly SafePharm Ltd, one of the world's foremost contract research facilities. This Master Service Agreement gives the Mn Consortium preferred client status for any necessary study reviews and testing, as well as access to extensive technical and regulatory experience.