ORO was founded in 2008, at the time when EU REACH started to be implemented. We currently have 36 Members in 10 different EU Member States.


About ORO

The Only Representative Organisation is the decisive voice of the EU Only Represen­tatives (ORs) and the non-EU manufacturers as well as their value chains related to the REACH Regulation and its implementation.

ORO was founded in 2008, at the time when REACH started to be implemented with the REACH pre-registration phase. Since then, ORO has been a recognised stake­holder in the REACH debate by industry, regulators, NGOs and other industry associations. We have currently 35 Members in 10 different EU Member States.

About 25% of all REACH Registrations were conducted by Only Representatives, demonstrating the importance of Only Representatives for REACH. Only Representatives support non-EU manufacturers and their value EU chains, providing them access to the EU market. Thanks to our industry association non-EU manufacturers were not discriminated under REACH and ORO contributed to the goals of REACH significantly. ORO is dedicated to the following objectives:

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Set up Quality Standards for Only Representatives

  • Agreement on minimum requirements and basic standards that an ORO member must fulfil
  • Promote these standards towards stakeholders
  • Increase the reputation and importance of our industry segment

Common Understanding of REACH

  • Develop a mutual understanding of REACH requirements for ORs and non-EU manufacturers and their value chains
  • Launch working groups and committees to address specific areas of concern to the Membership
  • Establish a communication network between members on technical and regulatory issues related to REACH Implementation

Interests Representation

  • Represent the interests of ORs and non-EU manufacturers
  • Cooperate with regulators and other stakeholder in the REACH process
  • Promote ORO members as superior sources for OR Services

What is an Only Representative?

According to the European REACH regulation1 and its counterparts KKDIK2 in Turkey, UK REACH3 in Great Britain and K-REACH4 in Korea, importers are subject to the obligation to register all imported chemical substances, unless substances are exempted from this obligation.

To enable importers to be exempted from these registration obligations, the respective regulations provide that non-domestic manufacturers and formulators can appoint a so-called Only Representative (OR), who registers the respective substances on behalf of the manufacturer/formulator and thus makes the respective importers so-called Downstream Users (DU).

For this purpose, the OR must keep records of the respective importers as well as their annual imported substance quantities.

In the EU REACH regulation, REACH Art. 8 provides the legal framework for the important role of an Only Representatives in the regulation. Since this is the only Article of the 141 Articles in the REACH Regulation, addressing the roles and obligations of ORs, this leaves plenty of room for many misunderstandings and misinterpretation on obligations of Only Representatives.

The role of an Only Representative is extremely important, in particular for non-EU manufacturers wanting to access the EU market. Given the complexity of the REACH Regulation and the fact that there is no one-stop shop that can provide high quality information on Only Representative issues, many non-EU companies and their EU customers are very concerned. Therefore, ORO provides this missing link.

[1] Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH).

[2] Turkish Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals, 23 June 2017.

[3] UK Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation & Restriction of Chemicals (REACH).

[4] K-REACH: Act on Registration, Evaluation, etc. of Chemicals (Act No. 17326).

ORO Board

Dr Dieter Drohmann

President

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Chemservice GmbH
Herrnsheimer Hauptstraße 1b
67550 Worms
Germany

Phone: +49 6241 954 800

Kevin Hoban

Vice-President

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H2Compliance
Rubicon Building
CIT Campus
Bishopstown
Cork, Ireland

Phone: +353 85 747 5627

Tanya Sagermann

Secretary

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Tetra Tech International, Inc.
Fuchsstrasse 1
67688 Rodenbach
Germany

Phone: +49 6374 802 388

Dr Torsten Räcker

Vice-Secretary

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knoell Germany GmbH
Marie-Curie-Strasse 11
51377 Leverkusen
Germany

Phone: +49 214 20 658 250

Dr Michael Leise

Treasurer

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Intertek Deutschland GmbH
Intertek Assuris
Stangenstrasse 1
70771 Leinfelden-Echterdingen
Germany

Phone: +49 711 27311 282

Ahmet Ecmel Yorgancı

Vice-Treasurer

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REACH Global Services S.A.
Rond Point Schuman, 6 Box 5
B-1040 Brussels / Belgium

Phone: +32 (2) 234 77 77

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