Following the latest developments in Ukraine and Russia, do Manganese-REACH registrants still have to comply with EU sanctions against Russia ?

YES. In fact, the EU Commission has been more than active in this field lately, as it is willing to pressure Russia to engage in peace talks. It adopted, in this line, the sixteenth EU sanction package, which specifically targets companies engaged in sanctions circumvention, especially through affiliates of EU companies located outside of Europe, used as middle persons, to engage into exchanges with Russia. The Commission also increased meansand subsidies allocated to member states to prosecute infringement and circumvention activities.

Besides, the EU Commission also updatedits guidelines and FAQs on sanctions in the chemical sector confirming that consortia and joint registration platforms must comply with the EU sanction scheme. As such, the Commission highlighted that several of the services normally provided by lead registrants, consultants and lawyers for REACH Regulation-related purposes (such as registration dossier submission or update, application for authorisations, provision of legal advice on REACH, or representing companies established in Russia in the context of data sharing negotiations) fall within the sanction scheme.

These provisions make it therefore still crucial for REACH registrants to maintain a strong compliance framework to shield against Russia sanctions circumvention.

While EU sanctions typically take the form of asset freezes imposed on designated individuals and entities close to a government, the sanction scheme on Russia goes a significant step further and imposes far-reaching import and export bans on products and services from and to Russia.

Chemicals are particularly affected by this ban because they are considered to contribute to the enhancement of Russian industrial capabilities and, in this respect, manganese-based substances are particularly targeted by EU Regulations and widely covered in the ban.

As a result, it remains important for manganese REACH-registrants to ensure that registrations submitted by consortia or joint submission platforms are not used by registrants to import banned products in the EU. In addition, platforms should have mechanisms in place to guarantee that not a single transaction is being concluded with designated entities or entities established in Russia. A reporting process to ECHA and national authorities of registrants who fall under the sanction scheme should also be implemented.

For more information, please contact reach@manganese.org