Compliance with the REACH Regulation  (Ricoh Group/Global)
The REACH Regulation*1, a new European regulatory framework on chemical substances, requires all chemical substances contained in products and parts exported to Europe which exceed a certain quantity to be registered by May 2018. The communication of information regarding equipment and other articles containing such chemical substances is also mandatory under the regulation,
and it is said that the number of chemical substances subject to this regulation will eventually exceed 1,500. The Ricoh Group established the REACH Compliance Working Group with 180 attendees from the production division (including the general sales division) in February 2008 to solidify Ricoh's REACH compliance system.
The core mission of the working group is to develop a system that will allow us to collect and manage chemical substance information accurately and efficiently from partners both upstream and downstream in the supply chain, including manufacturers of materials, chemicals,
and parts, as well as Ricoh Group's production facilities, and to provide the information to customers upon their request.
In fiscal 2008, the working group prepared common rules regarding, and a database for, the communication of chemical substance information on the basis of the system of the Joint Article Management Promotion-consortium (JAMP).
We held an explanation meeting for 408 Japanese suppliers in November 2008 and requested them to provide their chemical substance information. We also held a similar meeting for 693 Chinese suppliers in February 2009, and 92 South Korean suppliers in April 2009. In fiscal 2009, we will further strengthen and improve our system to ensure it works smoothly in the future, aiming to start REACH registration in 2011.
- *1
- REACH Regulation
This is a new EU regulatory framework for Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH).
It requires the registration and management of all chemical substances used in business in accordance with their conditions of use to ensure safe assessment of chemical substances. It came into force on June 1, 2007, and regulations have been gradually enforced since June 1, 2008.
|
The relationship among substance groups whose use for equipment is either prohibited, restricted, or controlled by the Ricoh Group and substance groups regulated by the European RoHS Directive
|
Collaboration with JAMP (Ricoh Group/Global)
In accordance with the REACH Regulation, all manufacturers exporting products to Europe now need to get ready for full compliance. Since this regulation is being applied across the entire supply chain, manufacturers of materials, chemicals, and parts in the upstream and middle-stream must provide information on chemical substances used by them to each client they deal with.
To ensure this information is communicated and disclosed efficiently and smoothly, it was recognized in the industry that there is a need to develop common rules, formats, and a database that can be shared by all manufacturers. Based on this recognition of the need to develop and disseminate the common industry-wide communication system to share information on chemical substances contained in articles*1 to enhance the competitiveness of the industry,
the Joint Article Management Promotion-consortium (JAMP) was established in September 2006. Ricoh agrees with the purpose of JAMP, and, as one of the promoter companies, supports the operation of its organization and database sharing and the related system development.
One of the major missions of JAMP is to create the Material Safety Data Sheet plus (MSDS plus) and the Article Information Sheet (AIS)*2, which are basic sheets used for the communication of information on chemical substances contained in products. JAMP is also developing a portal system to allow manufacturers to register their chemical substance information in the JAMP server and share it among members.
This will eliminate the need for each manufacturer to develop their own communication systems, and enable them to meet the details of the REACH Regulation efficiently. Through the activities of JAMP, Ricoh will continue to play an important part in the realization of a society in which the impact of chemical substances on the environment is minimized.
- *1
- All objects that have a shape and whose size is measurable, including manufactured goods, semi-manufactured goods, and components.
- *2
- The basic communication sheets recommended by JAMP to provide information on chemical substances contained in products.
|
Communication system developed by JAMP to communicate information on chemical substances contained in articles
|
|
|
|
To Top
