Chemical regulatory and compliance
The global public focus on sustainability is forcing governments to radically reconsider how we use chemicals, and their impact on human health and the environment.
Solutions to support your business
The EU’s REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals) Regulation aims to protect human health and the environment from the risks posed by chemicals.
It requires companies to identify and manage the risks associated with the substances they place on the market in the EU. Companies must demonstrate safe usage of these substances to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) through the registration dossiers that have to be submitted by manufacturers and importers of substances.
The authorities may then evaluate this information to ensure that hazards are fully identified and determine whether additional controls are needed to manage risks.
If risks cannot be managed, authorities can restrict or ban the use of these substances through the authorisation and restriction processes.
Companies are also required to communicate hazard information and risk management measures to users, for example through Safety Data Sheets.
REACH also promotes alternative methods for assessing substance hazards to reduce animal testing.
Many other countries have also adopted REACH-like regulations to help them manage the risks form chemicals. Find out more about the services that we can offer to support UK REACH, Turkey-REACH (KKDIK), Ukraine REACH (UA-REACH), Korea (K-)REACH and more.
Compliance with Safety Data Sheet (SDS) requirements under EU REACH, CLP, and global GHS implementations is critical to ensuring chemical safety, legal compliance, and uninterrupted market access.
As regulatory expectations tighten worldwide, businesses face increasing complexity in SDS authoring, labelling, transport legislation, and extended SDS (e-SDS) obligations. A robust compliance strategy reduces risk, enhances supply chain transparency, and supports safe product stewardship.
Partnering with Ricardo ensures your SDS are accurate, up to date, and fully aligned with regional and international standards, empowering your business to operate confidently in global markets.
Providing support with:
- SDS Authoring (EU & Global)
- SDS Review
- Labelling Compliance
- DGSA Services
- e-SDS aligned with REACH
Managing a chemical portfolio across global markets is increasingly complex due to evolving and diverging regulations in the EU, UK, North America, Asia, and beyond. Staying compliant requires regular inventory reviews and up-to-date regulatory knowledge, an often time-consuming and resource-intensive task.
Chemical Compliance Monitor helps organisations reduce this burden by identifying regulatory obligations across your portfolio, including substances that may require registration, restriction, or substitution.
At the same time, effective SDS management presents its own challenges—particularly for businesses with large or distributed operations. Ensuring all employees have easy access to accurate, current SDS can be difficult, especially when dealing with multiple suppliers, formats, and languages. Centralising SDS storage and updates helps prevent compliance gaps, supports safer handling, and reduces risk across the organisation.
Providing support with:
Ensuring access to the European market requires a comprehensive understanding of regulatory frameworks and directives at both the national and Union levels. Compliance with regulations such as Poison Centre Notifications, SCIP (Substances of Concern in Articles), Detergent Registrations, and Classification & Labelling Notifications is essential for businesses seeking to protect human and environmental health while maintaining market access.
Beyond the EU, there is a global trend toward the introduction of similar notification systems. With the growing complexity of international regulations, organizations can minimize the impact of potential disruptions by staying informed and compliant.
Partnering with Ricardo ensures businesses stay ahead of regulatory changes, maintaining smooth operations and meeting safety expectations.
Providing support with:
- CLP
- Poison Centres
- SCIP
- Safety Data Sheets (SDS)
- C&L Notifications
- Detergent Notifications.
Ricardo’s chemical regulatory and compliance experts provide training to enhance in-house teams’ understanding of chemical regulations. Supporting over 500 organisations, Ricardo offers both standardised and customised training on key compliance topics, including UK/EU REACH, CLP, GHS classification and labelling, SDS authoring, and dangerous goods handling. Courses are available in-person, online, or in hybrid formats. Training helps participants understand regulatory roles, hazard communication, and safe transport of chemicals. Additional services include SDS review and tailored training solutions. Ricardo’s comprehensive programs ensure companies remain compliant and knowledgeable in an evolving regulatory landscape.
Providing regulatory training for:
Understanding environmental and human health toxicology helps chemical manufacturers identify and manage potential risks associated with their products. We support chemical organisations to develop safer formulations while ensuring regulatory compliance and market access are maintained, helping to provide greater confidence among customers and stakeholders.
Designed by regulatory experts to support organisations with maintaining compliance by providing a consolidated view of changes and updates, our reports save you time, and condense complex legalities into accessible, easily digestible outputs.
Distributed proactively when regulatory updates are announced or adopted, our reports provide you the maximum opportunity to make strategic decisions and can be tailored to the specific requirements of your product portfolio and trade markets.
