The European Commission opened a public feedback period on September 29, 2026 on a draft regulation updating the EU test methods used to assess chemical substances under REACH. The consultation closes on October 27, 2026 at midnight Brussels time.
EU manufacturers and importers of chemical substances, REACH regulatory affairs leads, and contract testing laboratories performing GLP safety studies must review the proposed methods against their current dossier testing protocols and submit feedback by October 27, 2026, or their input will not be considered when the regulation is finalised. Once adopted, REACH registrations that continue to rely on outdated test methods face non-compliance and rejection at dossier evaluation.
What does the draft regulation change?
The draft act (reference Ares(2026)9201435, published on the Commission's Have Your Say portal as a 4-page regulation and an 8-page annex) updates the standard test methods that underpin the chemical safety assessments submitted in REACH registration dossiers. The Commission classifies the initiative under the Environment topic and foresees a Regulation as the type of act, which means it will be directly applicable in every Member State once adopted. The file is examined by comitology committee C34200 of Member State experts.
Test methods are the technical backbone of every REACH dossier: they define how a substance's physicochemical, toxicological and ecotoxicological properties are measured, and the results feed directly into classification, risk assessment and the chemical safety report. Updating them shifts the evidentiary baseline that ECHA checks at dossier evaluation.
| Step | Date |
|---|---|
| Feedback period opens | September 29, 2026 |
| Feedback period closes | October 27, 2026 (midnight Brussels time) |
| Commission adoption | After feedback is considered (date not set) |
| Publication and application | On adoption, in the Official Journal |
Who must act on the updated test methods?
Four categories of actors are exposed by market exposure, not by domicile. EU manufacturers of chemical substances submitting REACH registration dossiers must align their testing programmes with the new methods. EU importers of substances subject to REACH registration carry the same obligation through the registration they rely on. REACH regulatory affairs and compliance leads at chemical companies own the dossier update and the gap analysis against current protocols. Contract testing laboratories (CROs) performing GLP safety studies for REACH dossiers must revalidate their study designs, because the methods they apply determine whether the dossier passes evaluation.
The exposure flows from how REACH works: every registrant submits a technical dossier with study summaries under Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, and ECHA evaluates whether the test methods used generate valid, compliant data. A method that drops out of the accepted set invalidates the underlying study.
What to do before October 27, 2026
- Download the draft regulation and its annex from the initiative page and map each updated method to the corresponding study in your current dossiers.
- Identify where your existing test protocols diverge from the proposed methods, and quantify the cost and timing of retesting or revalidation.
- Check whether ongoing or planned GLP studies at your CROs use methods the draft would supersede, and flag the impact to study directors.
- Submit structured feedback through the Have Your Say portal before the deadline, citing the specific methods and dossier sections affected.
- Prepare a dossier update plan for when the regulation applies, prioritising substances with upcoming evaluation or authorisation deadlines.
What happens if the methods are ignored
Feedback not received by October 27, 2026 is not taken into account in finalising the regulation, so companies that stay silent lose the chance to shape methods they will have to apply. After adoption, the harder consequence lands at dossier evaluation: ECHA checks that the test methods in a registration generate valid and compliant data, and dossiers built on superseded methods face non-compliance findings and rejection. Aligning methods before the regulation binds is cheaper than rebuilding a dossier after it is rejected.
Continuous, per-jurisdiction monitoring of the REACH test methods track surfaces a change like this the moment the Commission publishes it, before it reaches the Official Journal.
Next, confirm which of your dossiers depend on the methods the draft updates, brief your testing laboratories and regulatory affairs team on the October 27, 2026 feedback deadline, and decide whether to file feedback. Obsidian tracks this consultation through to adoption so the dossier update starts on time.
