Chemical Industry Leaders Validate Atrion’s REACHexchangeTM Solution For REACH Compliance

Montreal, Quebec, May 7, 2008 - Atrion International, Inc., announced today the successful completion of its REACHexchangeTM beta testing program with seven large multinational clients (including DSM and Akzo Nobel). The results of the beta testing validated the ease-of-use and practicality of REACHexchange’sTM bidirectional exchange of data between Atrion’s Intelligent Authoring® (IA) application and local instances of a company’s IUCLID 5 system - the tool for registering chemical substances under the REACH legislation.

“The European Chemical Bureau’s (ECB) IUCLID 5 license agreement prohibits companies from directly interfacing a third party system with IUCLID 5, which could potentially result in redundant and inconsistent data, and in the long run affect a company’s reputation,” explains Patrick J. Lavoie, President of Atrion International. “We developed REACHexchangeTM to enable companies to overcome this limitation, all while working within the confines of the IUCLID 5 license agreement.”

Atrion’s IA® application automates the creation of globally compliant and multi-lingual Material Safety Data Sheets (M)SDS, labels, hazard summary sheets as well as documents related to transportation, inventory reports and more. REACHexchangeTM in combination with Atrion’s IA application allows the transfer of data and necessary classification information to the central IUCLID 5 system.

The REACHexchangeTM Beta testers confirmed that the REACHexchangeTM interface eliminates risks associated with inconstant data between registration dossiers and SDS’s, due to duplicate data entry. This is an important, costly and time consuming hurdle to overcome for companies, especially as they begin to devote scarce internal resources in order to prepare for REACH pre-registration which starts on June 1st, 2008.

DSM participated in the Beta test and is satisfied with the results. DSM’s Product Safety Advisor cited that the way in which data was exported from IUCLID 5 and imported into Atrion’s IA application via REACHexchangeTM clearly demonstrated the convenience and accuracy of entering data only once, thus eliminating errors associated with redundant data entry.

"With REACHexchange, we can calculate the First Aid, Storage and Handling and Transport in Atrion’s IA application and export it to IUCLID 5 via REACHexchangeTM”, said Gerard Kulk, Team Leader, Materials Compliance Support at Akzo Nobel, “This enables us to leverage the same data across both systems saving our organization considerable time."

As result of their involvement in Atrion’s beta testing program, the participating companies have expressed confidence in their ability to import data into and to export data from Atrion’s IA application via REACHexchangeTM for the generation of registration dossiers and extended SDS for REACH in a timely manner.

About DSM
DSM, one of Atrion’s customers since 1998, is a leading manufacturer of innovative products and services in Life Sciences and Materials Sciences that contribute to the quality of life. DSM’s products and services are used globally in a wide range of markets and applications, supporting a healthier, more sustainable and more enjoyable way of life. End markets include human and animal nutrition and health, personal care, pharmaceuticals, automotive, coatings and paint, electrics and electronics, life protection and housing. DSM is included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, as well as the FTSE4Good Index. For more information about DSM: http://www.dsm.com

About Akzo Nobel
Akzo Nobel is one of the world’s leading industrial companies and the largest global coatings manufacturer known through out the world for its decorative paints and performance coatings, as well as for being a major worldwide supplier of specialty chemicals. With around 68,000 employees in more than 80 countries Akzo Nobel is committed to developing innovative products and cutting-edge sustainable technologies. Based in the Netherlands, Akzo Nobel is a Fortune Global 500 company and is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange and on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, as well as being included on the FTSE4Good Index. For more information about Akzo Nobel: http://www.akzonobel.com

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Atrion and REACHexchange are registered trademarks of Atrion International Inc. All other company and product names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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Atrion International Contact:
Donna Zamiska
Marketing and Communication Manager
Tel: +1-514-337-2114, x 226
Fax: +1-514-337-2115
E-mail: dzamiska@atrionintl.com

Agency Contact:
iFact inc
Sabine Kerner
Tel. : +1-514-735-9892
Fax : +1-514-736-2773
E-mail: skerner@ifact-consult.com

Atrion International
4777 Levy Street
St.Laurent, Québec, H4R 2P9
Canada
Tel: +1-514-337-2114 (Canada), +31.24.329.7420 (EU)

Atrion International Inc., founded in 1989, delivers the most reliable and dependable materials compliance solutions for multi-national ‘formula-based’ companies. Compared to other solutions, Atrion integrates the largest set of ‘expert’ regulatory content into a proven & pre-packaged automation solution. Able to ‘connect’ to key ERP systems, Atrion’s material compliance solution delivers the peace of mind that products will reach customers, with minimal risks to brand image and shareholder value. Additionally, Atrion and its certified SAP® partners provide a robust solution which compliments SAP’s REACH offering. Atrion International is a global software company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific.

For more information: Call +1.888.8ATRION (NA) or +31.24.329.7420 (EU) today and visit Atrion's websites: http://www.atrionintl.com/ and http://www.reachlegislation.com.

This release was published on openPR.