16 October 2025 - News release SMEs to apply for company size validation before making REACH submissions

ECHA/NR/25/33

The European Commission has adopted the revised REACH Fee Regulation. Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will have to apply for company size validation before submitting their dossiers to benefit from the reduced fees. Standard fees and charges for large companies will increase by 19.5%.

Helsinki, 16 October 2025 - Under the updated REACH Fee Regulation, SMEs intending to submit REACH registrations or applications for authorisation must apply for company size validation at least two months before submitting their dossiers. This ex-ante verification process will apply from 5 February 2027.

Once the relevant documentation is received, ECHA has two months to verify the SME status. To ensure companies can benefit from reduced fees and submit dossiers on schedule, they are advised to apply for company size verification as early as possible to allow sufficient time to address any requests for additional information.

If ECHA does not recognise the SME status of the applicant, an administrative charge may be imposed. The level of the charge is set by ECHA's Management Board.

To reduce the burden for SMEs, the recognised SME status will remain valid for three years from the date of ECHA's decision. If a company's size has not changed, the first application to renew the SME status can be done by self-declaration, provided it is initiated two months before the validity expires.

The 19.5% increase in standard fees and charges under the revised Regulation reflects inflation and is based on the average annual inflation rate in Europe for 2021-2023. To safeguard the competitiveness of SMEs, the fee increase applies only to large enterprises. The updated fees take effect from 5 November 2025.

ECHA will gradually publish further guidance to support companies in preparing their SME status validation requests ahead of submissions.

Background

The European Commission adopted the revised REACH Fee Regulation on 15 October 2025, which enters into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. The ex-ante verification will start to apply 15 months after the Regulation enters into force. Until then, the current SME verification process applies.

Press contact: Mikko Väänänen, [email protected], +358 40 520 3513