To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the European Union Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulations are being communicated to small and medium-sized chemical companies. [HL1810]

Between September 2007 and December 2008, Her Majesty's Government ran an awareness campaign to alert UK industry to REACH and the various obligations the regulation placed on companies. The focus of the campaign was specifically on small and medium-sized enterprises across all sectors of UK industry, as REACH has implications for more than just chemicals companies. A joint strategy was agreed between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as the policy lead, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, and the UK REACH Competent Authority provided by the Health and Safety Executive.

The campaign was guided by a survey of small businesses in January 2008 to make sure that information was targeted on specific, poorly informed sectors of industry. It included:

national conferences and regional free-to-attend road shows until May 2008 covering the entire UK, explaining REACH and advising local businesses on how to prepare to fulfil their obligations;

the placing of advertisements and articles in relevant trade publications, along with various online and internet-based advertisements;

articles in the HM Revenue and Customs Employers' Bulletin, with an online circulation of around 1.3 million businesses; and

radio advertisements broadcast at the end of September and mid-October 2008 on 45 selected regional and four national radio stations.

This activity contributed to the number of UK businesses pre-registering by the 1 December deadline being the highest of any EU member state.

Information on REACH continues to be provided for businesses through online advertising, the competent authority's dedicated REACH website containing detailed information and advice, and its national REACH helpdesk which responds to individual enquiries from businesses.