Product Life Cycle

Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals

In 2006, the European Parliament and the Council passed Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). The primary objectives of the regulation are to protect the environment from harmful substances and to stabilize the European chemical industry.

The scope of the REACH Regulation differs from the European Union Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive in that REACH is not limited to electrical and electronic equipment. With REACH, manufacturers and importers of substances and preparations are required to register the substance or preparation prior to placing it on the market if it meets certain criteria:

• Products imported or manufactured in quantities of 1 tonne annually
• Products intended to be released under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use (for example, printer cartridges)

The Substances of Very High Concern Candidate List and Annex XIV of REACH (the list of substances subject to authorization) drives notification, authorization, and restriction requirements. Once a substance has been added to the Candidate List, requirements for customer notification apply immediately. Once a substance on the Candidate List is selected to be added to Annex XIV, authorization requirements are imposed on that substance. At some point after the list of substances for authorization is published, the included substances may also be restricted.

As a producer of articles (not substances or preparations), National Instruments is not required to register any substances or preparations because NI does not produce or import chemical substances in excess of 1 tonne/year, and NI products do not release any substances into the environment during normal and foreseeable conditions of use.

NI is required to comply with the downstream users' obligations. To accommodate this, NI is working closely with its supply chain as new substances are added to the Candidate List. For additional information on NI REACH initiatives or specific product information related to REACH, contact reach@ni.com.