From the review of Commission Regulation (EC) No 340/2008 of 16 April 2008 on the fees and charges payable to the European Chemicals Agency pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)2, conducted pursuant to Article 22(2) of that Regulation, it results that that Regulation should be amended in various respects.

For reasons of legal certainty, it is appropriate to clarify the consequences of late payments to the Agency. The Agency should not refund fees or charges paid before the rejection of the submission concerned. However, fees or charges paid after such rejection should be refunded as undue payments.

With respect to updates of a registration concerning confidentiality claims, it is appropriate that fees should be applied consistently regardless of when the request is made. With respect to updates of a registration other than tonnage band updates, it is appropriate to provide for the possibility for the registrant to request an extension of the second deadline for payment of the corresponding fee in order to give additional time to the registrant to make the payment.

For reasons of legal certainty, it is also appropriate to clarify the existing provisions on reduced fees for confidentiality claims in joint submissions or by lead registrants.

With respect to fees for applications under Article 62 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 and charges for reviews of authorisations under Article 61 of that Regulation, each exposure scenario should no longer automatically be considered as one use since the number of additional uses applied for in an authorisation application or authorisation review report may not necessarily be identical to the number of exposure scenarios included in those submissions.

It should also be clarified that the Agency should issue one invoice covering the base fee or charge and all additional fees or charges, including in cases of joint authorisation applications and joint review reports.

The Agency may request evidence that the conditions for a reduction of fees or charges or for a fee waiver apply. In order to be able to verify that those conditions are met, it is necessary to require the submission of such evidence in one of the official languages of the Union or, if it is available only in another language, with a certified translation into one of the official languages of the Union.

It is also appropriate, following the review of the fees and charges, in line with Article 22(1) of Regulation (EC) No 340/2008, in the light of the applicable average annual inflation rate of 3,1 % for April 2012 published by Eurostat, to adapt the standard fees and charges in line with that rate.

The existing reduced fees and charges applicable to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should be further reduced in order to minimise the regulatory burden and the numerous practical challenges faced by SMEs in complying with REACH obligations, in particular with the registration obligation, as identified in the Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions in accordance with Article 117(4) of REACH and Article 46(2) of CLP, and a review of certain elements of REACH in line with Articles 75(2), 138(2), 138(3) and 138(6) of REACH3.

In order to rebalance the distribution of fees and charges across various company size classes, the standard fees and charges should be further increased by 4 % in the registration area and by 3,5 % in the authorisation area taking into account, on the one hand, the costs of the Agency and the related costs of the services provided by the competent authorities of the Member States, and, on the other hand, the further reduction of fees and charges for SMEs and the number of SMEs involved.

The overall adjustment of fees and charges is fixed at such a level that the revenue derived from them when combined with other sources of the Agency's revenue pursuant to Article 96(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 is sufficient to cover the cost of the services delivered.

Regulation (EC) No 340/2008 should therefore be amended accordingly.

For reasons of legal certainty, this Regulation should not apply to valid submissions which are pending on the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

Given that the phase-in substances referred to in Article 23(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 must be registered by 31 May 2013, this Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established under Article 133 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006,