On 18 December 2006 the European Parliament and Council passed the regulation (EG) No. 1907/2006 which is known under the abbreviation "REACh". REACh means the Regulation for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals. This regulation entered into force on 1 June 2007.

One important element of the "REACh regulation" is the registration of all chemicals used within the European Union.

In this context we would like to assure you that all the substances and preparations used by us were pre-registered on the due date.

The deadlines for the registration of the chemicals are phased and reach until 1 June 2018 as far as small volume chemicals are concerned. Due to this long deadline, it is not possible to estimate whether and when all the chemicals existing on the market will be registered. We will do our utmost that our suppliers will register all the chemicals used by us.

Within the scope of the second important element of the "REACh regulation", i. e. the mandatory disclosure according to article 33, we ensure that:

• all our products including packaging

and/or

• all the substances and preparations used for textile finishing

do not contain any substances of high concern which are on the REACh list (as of 28 October 2008).

For further general information on REACh please click onto: www.echa.europa.eu