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Inquiry

Inquiry is the process by which every potential registrant of a non-phase-in substance (or a phase-in substance which has not been pre-registered) MUST inquire to ECHA as to whether a registration has already been submitted for the same substance.

Similarly, before submitting an update of a registration, due to a tonnage band increase, a company is obligated to inform ECHA of the additional information that he would require in order to comply with the information requirements for the new tonnage band (Article 12(2)). Therefore we strongly recommend that an inquiry is submitted to ECHA whenever such additional information is required, in order to facilitate the process and to accelerate the handling of the update dossier.

It is important to read carefully the critical information outlined below before creating and submitting an inquiry.

What you need to do before submitting your inquiry to ECHA

1. Account creation in REACH-IT: As a (potential) registrant you must sign-up in REACH-IT (as explained on the “Sign-up” page) to create an account and be able to submit your dossier.
2. We recommend you first read the "Questions and Answers On Inquiry" before creating your inquiry.
3. Preparation of the inquiry dossier:

   There is a choice of two options to create an inquiry:

   1. Enter the information required for the inquiry directly online in the REACH-IT portal following a step-by-step procedure until the final validation and submission at the end of the procedure.

   For guidance on how to create an inquiry dossier following this option please refer to IUM Part 11 (Online dossier creation and submission for inquiries) below.

   2. Create the information required for inquiry as an IUCLID 5 dossier and submit this dossier via REACH-IT.
   You must then attach the “Inquiry - information requirements form” to section 13 of your IUCLID 5 substance dataset during preparation of your inquiry dossier.  The form can be accessed below.  You must complete the form online, download it and save it in a suitable place.  For guidance on how to create an inquiry following this option please refer to Data Submission Manual Part 2 below. The Industry User Manual for REACH-IT Part 6 (Dossier Submission) will also provide you with step-by-step instructions for the process of dossier submission.
    
4. Supporting IT tool in the case of inquiry created in IUCLID 5:

   If you choose to create your inquiry using IUCLID 5, before submitting your inquiry dossier, apply the "Inquiry Dossier Preliminary Check Tool" to your dossier, to identify the fields in your Inquiry dossier, which should be completed.
   The "Inquiry Dossier Preliminary Check Tool" can be downloaded from the link displayed below.
   Note: Make sure to include any missing information, reported by the tool, in the dossier that you will submit to ECHA.

5. Submission to ECHA:

   Submit your inquiry dossier using the REACH-IT portal.
   If you choose to create your inquiry online, submission is integrated as the final step in this process.

Further information

The information below may help you to understand the topics covered, by providing access to relevant documents, tools and web pages. The icon indicates that the linked material is currently available only in English.

Required forms (for dossier creation in IUCLID5 only)

• Inquiry-information requirements form that must be attached to section 13 of IUCLID5 dataset
  

Critical information for inquiry dossier

• Questions and Answers On Inquiry ()
• Inquiry Dossier Preliminary Check Tool
• Industry User Manual - Part 1: Getting started with REACH-IT ()
• Industry User Manual - Part 2: Sign-up and account management ()
• Data Submission Manual 2: How to prepare and submit an inquiry dossier ()
• Data Submission Manual 4: How to submit a valid dossier to ECHA and complete the dossier header ()
• Data Submission Manual 8: Business Rules Validation ()
• Industry User Manual - Part 3: Login and Message Box ()
• Industry User Manual - Part 6: Dossier Submission ()
• Industry User Manual - Part 11: Online dossier creation and submission for inquiries ()

Background information

• REACH IT Portal is to be used to create a company account in REACH-IT.
• IUCLID 5 website is the access point to download the software.
• Post-submission : outlines the main steps involved in processing your dossier at ECHA.
• Supporting documents : provides, in a single page, lists and links for all supporting documents which should be consulted prior to submitting dossiers to ECHA.
• Guidance on registration document describes the registration and data sharing mechanisms for phase-in and non phase-in substances under REACH. The document is currently being translated.
• Guidance on data sharing document describes data sharing mechanisms for phase-in and non phase-in substances under REACH.
• Guidance on substance identification document describes how to name and identify a substance under REACH.
• REACH helpdesk pages contain information (and contact details) on how to benefit from assistance provided by the official helpdesks of the Member States REACH helpdesks and at ECHA.
• Data Submission leaflet () provides an overview on how late pre-registrations, registrations and PPORD notifications can be submitted and how inquiries on substances can be made.