The body says that the database is now open to all, regardless of whether or not they are a member of the RIFM, and will also extend to the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA), encompassing flavors for the food industry.
Key benefits of the database for fragrance players will be increased transparency, wider distribution of safety data and information, together with additional revenue to support its research.
These benefits will also help fragrance players to obtain key objectives outlined by REACH, the recently introduced regulatory framework designed to enforce set rules governing the manufacturing and sale of all chemicals within the European Union.
REACH establishes the principle that it is the responsibility of companies to ensure that the products they develop are adequately controlled, leaving it very much down to the responsibility of companies and businesses to do the footwork if they want to comply.
For North American businesses this can often present the added difficulty of unfamiliarity with European work practices and business regulation.
"In light of REACH, opening the database to nonmember subscribers will allow them an easy mechanism to retrieve needed data," the body said in a statement.
"The RIFM database can function as a focused literature search on fragrance ingredients in preparation for REACH registration."
Likewise the body also outlined a database policy, which clearly outlines how the resource can be used to comply with the intricate, highly complex and multi-faceted regulations that REACH comprises.
The only difference to the service for non-members is that they will not gain access to information on member companies or study reports that have been commissioned by the body.
The RIFM database was established in 1983 as a means of maintaining up-to-date science-based information for businesses involved in the fragrance industry.
It now contains key information on 5,000 fragrance and flavor materials, together with 53,000 references, containing over 111,000 human health and environmental studies.