ECHA has a central coordination and implementation role in the overall REACH process and will be partly responsible for the practical handling of the registration, evaluation of testing proposals and inspection to see that the registrations meet the requirements.

ECHA will also be responsible for the practical administration of the authorisation system and for the preparation of guidelines for the industry and government.

More information about REACH can be found on www.echa.europa.eu.

Each country of the EEA has established a national REACH helpdesk to provide information on REACH obligations. These national helpdesks are the first point of contact and a list of contact details can be found at www.echa.europa.eu/help/nationalhelp.

Useful information about REACH can also be found on the homepage of CEPE (the sole European trade association for manufacturers of decorative coatings, printing inks, industrial coatings and artists’ colours). CEPE represents the interest of approximately 1000 members in the European Union, Norway and Switzerland: www.cepe.org