The Chemical Business Association (CBA) has asked the European Parliament to extend pre-registration because of the failure of the European Chemicals Agency's (ECHA) Reach IT system.
Melvyn Whyte, chairman of CBA's Reach task force, said: 'With just over two weeks left of the pre-registration period the time has come for someone to take a decision.
'Industry is trying its best to comply with Reach and is being prevented from doing so by inadequate technology which has completely failed to cope with the demands placed upon it and is effectively preventing companies from pre-registering substances.
'It is now obvious that the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) seriously underestimated the number of pre-registrations.
'It initially expected around 200,000, but by 10 November the actual figure stood at more than one million, with a final figure likely to exceed two million by the end of the pre-registration period.
'Industry's key concern is that companies will be forced to remove substances from the market, with major knock-on effects for the chemical supply chain.' CBA has consistently drawn attention to the potential consequences of these problems, which have now become widely recognised.
The European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) reinforced industry's concerns only last week.
The CBA said some people are now working evenings and nights to try to gain access to Reach IT outside normal working hours.
On 10 November, ECHA announced a new version of Reach IT had been installed which it claimed would improve the rate of pre-registrations.
ECHA said that Reach IT was currently processing between 20,000 and 50,000 pre-registrations daily and said it was aware companies are trying hard to pre-register their substances.
Whyte added: 'ECHA is desperately trying to fulfil its statutory duties under Reach.
'But why should industry have any more confidence in this new version of Reach IT than it had in any of its predecessors? 'The key point is that Reach IT clearly has major capacity problems.
'There will inevitably be companies which, despite making every endeavour to complete the pre-registration process, will fail to make the 30 November deadline.
'They will suffer commercial and financial loss simply because of the inadequacy of Reach IT.' In October, CBA called for a six week extension to pre-registration.
This proposal aimed to give ECHA more time to get Reach IT operating effectively.
It also aimed to compensate industry for the fact that the bulk pre-registrations process, which has accounted for 70 per cent of all pre-registrations so far, became available six weeks late, reducing the planned six-month pre-registration period by almost 25 per cent.
Whyte added: 'Urgent action at political level within the European Parliament is essential to minimise collateral damage.
'In economic terms, the consequences of products being removed from the market will deepen the recession.
'In regulatory terms, the failure of Reach IT is likely to bring the Reach legislation into disrepute.
'In legal terms, companies may seek redress for consequences of the failure of Reach IT.
'And, in political terms, the European Union will have fallen well short of its objective of being the global standard-bearer for the effective regulation of chemicals.'
