Aug 16 2010
Norkem provide chemicals and chemical additives across a wide range of industry sectors including pharmaceutical, food, agriculture and construction.
“Norkem already have production facilities in Australia for products used by the construction industry so the opening of a sales office made perfect sense,” says Norkem Limited’s Managing Director Graham Lewis.
“Our new office in Australia will allow us not only to reach new markets but also to better serve our existing ones.” Lewis was asked why Norkem are continuing to expand in what some say are difficult times. “On the contrary there is never a bad time to improve your business. Our business is growing due to our continued commitment to providing more value added services to our clients an excellent example being our REACH and GHS team.”
REACH is the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) and is an EU Regulation which came into force in the EU in June 2007. It requires that all chemicals on the market be pre-registered before December 2008, with full registration required between December 2010 and December 2018 (depending on tonnages).
It aims to protect human health and the environment through better identification of chemical substances. REACH ensures those placing a substance on the market are responsible for understanding and managing the risks associated with it.
The Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) aims to bring worldwide consistency on the classification of chemicals and the requirements for hazard communication on labels and Safety Data Sheets while The Classification, Labeling and Packaging of Chemical Substances and Mixtures (CLP) has been introduced alongside REACH. It places obligations on the chemical supply chain to identify the hazards associated with their products, and to communicate this to others in the supply chain, including the end user.
Norkem have a dedicated REACH and GHS team and have pre-registered all substances available for sale that fall under the criteria of the regulations. They are working with Consortia, Suppliers and our end customers towards final registration.
“It’s our continued development and innovation of new products and services such as these that have allowed us to continue to grow into new markets.”