REACH stands for Registration, Evaluation, and Authorisation of Chemicals. It is the new EU Chemical legislation, which will come into force on 1st June 2007.

The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is responsible for implementing this European Regulation in the UK.

In October, Defra nominated the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to be the UK Competent Authority for REACH, working closely with the Environment Agency, and other partners to manage certain key aspects of the REACH system in the UK.