Exporting chemicals to Europe, tolling is a valid option

In the world of common day a lot of large and small international companies choose deliberately for toll manufacturing of their chemicals when they expand their business to Europe. Toll manufacturing is also known as tolling, contract manufacturing or blending/mixing services. There are many well known advantages such as ability to focus on the core business, no need for investments, flexibility of production costs, reducing regulations compliancy et al.

For these reasons tolling is in many situations the preferred solution even if you have a proprietary product (intellectual property considerations) because in tolling non disclosure confidentiality agreements are standard practice, assuring you that your formulation stays your formulation.

Exporting your chemicals to Europe

The market

The EU is a strong economic and political union of 28 member states and over 500 million people. The EU has built a single market, developed common policies, liberalized inter-country travel and launched a common currency shared by 19 countries. The EU is the world’s most integrated market.

REACH legislation

If you are planning to export to Europe, you have probably heard about REACH. REACH, (Regulation EC 1907/2006 on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals), is the EU regulation on chemicals and their safe use. REACH makes industry responsible for managing risks that chemicals may pose to health and the environment, and for providing relevant information to users along the supply chain. The REACH system is managed and controlled by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), which manages the registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction processes that apply to chemical substances throughout the EU.

REACH affects virtually every industry from automotive, aerospace, plastics and cosmetics to aluminum, household cleaners, computers and textiles. REACH applies to all categories of chemical substances manufactured, imported or used in the EU, with only a few limited exemptions (for example food). REACH also applies to chemicals contained in preparations and in finished products (so called articles).

Classification and labelling requirements

REACH requires that EU manufacturers and importers classify and label all substances subject to registration and authorization, and submit this information to the EU Classifaiction and Labelling Inventory, a database managed by the European Chemicals Agency. Classification and labeling rules are governed by the CLP regulation on the classification, labeling and packaging of substances and mixtures. For more information, see the CLP pages of the European Chemicals Agency’s website.

Choose tolling when entering the EU market

When you choose for toll manufacturing of your chemicals at a local tolling company in Europe you are able to reduce your regulations compliancy risks (REACH, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, et al.). In many cases a specialty toll blender is already compliant with current regulations such as safe labelling, transport and hazard regulations. This is of course even more important when dealing with hazardous (and non-hazardous) products as chemicals.

Next to the regulation compliancy risks it is many times also financially very attractive to produce your chemicals locally, in close proximity to your customers, in stead of shipping “water” overseas.

Key factors to choose for tolling

But what are the key factors one should consider when starting a toll manufacturing agreement with a tolling company:

Strong EH&S track record: A strong environmental, health, safety and security (EHS&S) track record and history of regulatory compliance. Many factors have to be taken into account for this such as certifications (SEVESO regulations, ISO 9001, ISO 14001). For the EU market REACH compliancy and an extensive track record of handling REACH matters is of utmost importance.
Product Quality: extensive and broad knowledge about chemistry, preferably a toll blender has its own laboratory with a wide range of equipment. A tolling company should be able to meet the quality standards you desire.
Responsiveness to requests for information; a toller should act swiftly and promptly
Reliability of supply
Security: make sure you choose for a tolling company that has a track record of working confidentially
Financial stability. This is especially very important when dealing with long term supply agreements

Always remember, a tolling partnership can be a wise business decision but companies most really have to think thorough what their expectations are and choose a contract manufacturer they can work with to meet manufacturing needs, both today and tomorrow.

AD Productions B.V.

Interested in to know more about how toll manufacturing could improve your bottom line? AD Productions, based in the Netherlands, is a strategically located toll services company close to the port of Rotterdam and Antwerp. Contact AD Productions today via contact, by phone at +31 (0) 167 526 900 or visit our toll blending services page.