Identify your obligations

Please note that the Navigator has been updated due to the publication of the Guidance on requirements for substances in articles and the Guidance for Downstream Users therefore the previous Navigator sessions conducted before 26/05/2008 cannot be retreived any more.

The Navigator helps industry to determine its obligations under REACH and find the appropriate guidance on how to fulfil these obligations.
Under REACH, each actor in the supply chain has specific obligations and tasks for individual substances. Even when dealing with preparations or articles, most of the REACH obligations relate to the substances that are contained in those preparations or articles.

  • Therefore the use of the Navigator (in a Navigator session) applies to a specific substance.
  • If you are dealing with preparations, the first step before running the navigator is to identify the substances that are contained in those preparations.
  • If you are a producer, importer or supplier of articles and you have doubts for which substances you need to run the Navigator, please start running a brief Pre-Navigator session. To do this, click first on "information for producer, importer or supplier of articles".

More explanations on the Navigator, including how to prepare before running a session can be found in the "About the Navigator" section below.

About the navigator

 

Disclaimer: This tool is provided by the European Chemicals Agency for helping industry figuring out its obligations and how to fulfil them. However, users are reminded that the text of the REACH Regulation is the only authentic legal reference and that the information in this website does not constitute legal advice. The European Chemicals Agency does not accept any liability with regard to the content of this Website.

What is the Navigator?

The Navigator is a tool to help manufacturers, importers, downstream users, distributors of chemical substances, and producers or importers of articles to figure out their obligations under REACH.
N.B.: A consumer has no obligation under REACH, so if you are solely a consumer you do not need to use the Navigator.
The Navigator will provide a list of obligations for a given substance, based on the answers the user gives to a series of questions: whether he manufactures or imports the substance, at what tonnage, for what use, whether the substance is classified as dangerous, etc. Below each question, explanations are provided to help answering it.

A Navigator session is not always the same for all substances: the user will be asked only the relevant questions for each case, based on the answers he gave at each step.

What shall I prepare before starting a session?

You need to run the Navigator for each substance separately as the questions might differ from substance to substance. Therefore, before using the Navigator, identify all the substances you are dealing with, or a selection of substances for which you want to run a Navigator session (REACH applies to all substances, whether on their own, in a preparation or in an article).
It might be the case that you manufacture, import or use several substances in the same way so that your answers to the questions will be similar. In this case if you run different sessions of the Navigator you will get the same list of obligations for these substances.

How to use the navigator?

The Navigator will ask you a series of questions concerning your chemical substance. It is important that you answer them correctly otherwise the Navigator will give you an incorrect list of obligations. Therefore, it is highly recommended to read the explanations below each question carefully before answering the questions.
In some borderline cases it might be difficult to answer a question. If the guidance is, in this case, insufficient, it is advisable to consult an expert.

The sequence of questions depends on the answers to the previous questions.

It is possible to go back to the previous question already answered with the "previous" button. It is also possible to change the answer to any other previous question. For that you first need to look at your "History" (see below). If you change the answer to any previous question, your session will continue from that point, as your change in answer will modify the subsequent question.

My Comments

For each question, the user can include his own comments. These comments are only for the user's reference (e.g. rationale for choosing the answer, comments to a colleague) and are not taken into account by the tool to figure out the user's obligations.

To add a comment click on the "My comments" button. These comments will be saved in the "History" of your session.

History

A "History" button allows you to display all the questions that have been asked, the answers that have been given, the users' comments for each of the questions and the obligations that are foreseen under REACH for that situation.
It is possible to show only one or several of these topics and to view them either in a table or as a list.

Until all the questions have been answered the session is not over and the History is "temporary".

The History will be saved for 6 months (see Use of Navigator ID). If the user wants to save the content of its session for longer, it is possible to do so using the browser functions.

How to modify the answer to a question?

In the History, at the end of each question you can click on the "Edit" button. You are then directed to the question, and can modify your answer. In this case, all the answers you have given to succeeding questions are lost.

Outcome of a session

At the end of the session, the user can find out the list of obligations which apply to him, by clicking on the "obligation" button or by checking the "History". From this list of obligations, the user will be linked to the relevant information in the legislation and in the guidance documents where more details can be found. 

What is the Navigator ID ?

Each time a user starts a Navigator session he is assigned a unique Navigator ID which is composed of numbers, assigned in a random way. If the user stops his session he can always retrieve his session by "retrieving a previous session" and entering his Navigator ID.

It is highly advised to store this number as soon as you start a session and to link it to the identity of the substance for which you run the session.

The Navigator ID is written on the top of the "History" page of your session. Therefore if you print the "History" or save it (using your browser function) you can retrieve this number.

What is "a previous session"?

If the Navigator has been used previously it is possible to retrieve this session by entering the Navigator ID. A session is kept for 6 months on the Agency server. It is possible to restart a session in progress.

What is the "Generic list of obligations"?

The Navigator directs the user to his obligations for a given substance. For each of these obligations the user is given a link to appropriate guidance on how to fulfil this obligation.
 
The "Generic list of obligations" contains all the potential obligations contained in the tool, with the link to guidance on how to fulfil these obligations. If you already know which obligations pertain to you, you can immediately go to this list and retrieve the appropriate guidance.