TUV Rheinland launches 'REACH – INDIA' project in TN

08 Sep '11

4 min read

TUV Rheinland India, a worldwide leader in Testing, Inspection, Certification & Training, has announced the launch of 'REACH – INDIA' project in Tamil Nadu, as a part of its ongoing CSR activities, in partnership with DEG, one of Europe's largest Development finance institutions.

'REACH-INDIA', a Public Private Partnership Program with a developmental agenda, would be primarily targeted at the leather and textile industries in Ranipet & Karur respectively in Tamil Nadu, aimed at addressing the current problems faced by these industries and their raw material suppliers with respect to the REACH regulations.

REACH is the European Community Regulation on chemicals and their safe use. It deals with the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances. The law entered into force on 1 June 2007. The aim of REACH is to improve the protection of human health and the environment through the better and earlier identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical substances right from the raw material stage till the final product.

Said Mr Shanmuga Sundaram P, Country Head, Material Testing Laboratories TUV Rheinland India & Project Director, REACH-INDIA Project, “We are pleased to announce the launch of 'REACH-INDIA' project in Tamil Nadu, which would help create mass awareness and build local capacity on the new environmental regulation REACH EC No.1907/2006. The knowledge transfer would play a vital role to help the leather and textile industries to comply with this law and stay competitive in the European market”.

“As a first step in the project, TUV Rheinland India is conducting a CEO forum in Ranipet & Karur in the first week of September, wherein top management from the leather and textile industries in these areas would be invited to a presentation on the impact of REACH", said Mr Shanmuga Sundaram.

"Companies that are interested in participating in this project would be asked to submit an application form and the project committee shall select participants based on established criteria. There will be no participation fees imposed on the selected companies” added Mr Sundaram.

TUV Rheinland India, would through the various activities to be implemented under this project, will help the participating companies able to understand this new Environmental Regulation REACH (EC No.1907/2006), identify their obligation, get necessary training and consultancy to fill the gaps in their supply chain and procurements and produce REACH compliant products consistently.

It will also represent the companies with European Chemical Agency to Register and / or Notify their substances, avoid Rejection, Penalties and Legal consequences in Europe in case of Non-Compliances, achieve product compliance through a consistent process, demonstrate their ability and enterprise wide responsibility to produce REACH complied products, update their knowledge on REACH by using the REACH Compliance web portal developed by TÜV Rheinland India.

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