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The Rubber Board is all set to commission an advanced analysis laboratory for rubber products on January 11 at the Rubber Research Institute.
The new facility will enable exporters to conduct independent third party testing of rubber products for REACH compliance and manufacturers in the MSME sector to design REACH complaint product formulations. Siby Varghese, Joint Director, RRII sid.
REACH is the European community regulation which deals with Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances.
RRII already has a NABL approved laboratory for conducting product testing as per national (IS, EU, ASTM) and international specifications. The additional facility set up the institute will enable exporters to compete in the export market, he said.
Currently the exports of rubber products especially to the European Union is a challenging task as the exporters need to meet stringent regulatory measurements. The objectives of REACH regulation are to protect the human health and the environment through better and earlier identification of the residual chemical substances in industrial products, he added.
EU is a major importer of rubber products from India with a value of Rs4200 crore in 2017-18, which constituted 25 per cent of the total export earnings of rubber products from India.Although REACH is now mandatory for products manufactured in or shipped to EU, many other developed countries into which India exports rubber products may adopt similar restrictions sooner or later.
Several chemicals restricted under REACH are used in rubber products that are exported to EU member countries. Rubber chemicals such as plasticisers, extenders, accelerators, crosslinking agents, resins, antioxidants, colouring agents, reclaimed rubber etc. are come under the preview of REACH regulation.
REACH restricts and control the use of polycyclic aromatics (PCA) and substances of very high concern (SVHC) in rubber products to the minimum limits.
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