Huber on schedule with EU REACH guidelines

ATLANTA, March 3, 2009 (Press Release) - In compliance with the new EU REACH chemicals regulation, Huber Engineered Materials (HEM), a division of J.M. Huber Corporation, today announced as a member of the Silica and Silicates Consortia it has developed the Technical Dossier and Chemical Safety Report to successfully register synthetic amorphous silica with the European Chemicals Agency in Helsinki, Finland.  The substance was registered by the lead registrant by order of the Consortia in the form of a joint submission.  The Consortia has taken the necessary steps to ensure that now and in the future, its members can produce, import and market synthetic amorphous silica. 

"Huber is pleased with the progress we've made to date with the REACH registration process," says David Riley, Huber's global director of marketing and business development for silica.  "Our effort has been focused and well paced, and we are happy our brands will be successfully registered within the guidelines of REACH."

According to the REACH chemicals regulation, which came into force in June 2007, existing substances - substances already listed in the inventory under the old chemicals legislation - had to be preregistered by Dec. 1, 2008, as a first step (as to achieve "phase-in" status).  This was accomplished on schedule for all products of Huber's silica business unit.  The registration phase for substances handled in quantities of more than 1,000 metric tons per year ends in November 2010.