Landmark EU chemical regulation agreed
Companies will have to prove that the chemicals they use in everyday products are safe, under a landmark law passed by the European parliament today.
The amended bill on registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (REACH) would require firms to register with a central agency any of about 30,000 substances contained within products such as cars, computers and paint.
Of these substances, a proportion of the most hazardous – to be decided by the new European Chemical Agency – would have to undergo testing before being passed for use.
The law would affect firms producing or importing more than one tonne of a chemical per year, and put on them a duty to prove that their products are safe. It would also force them to replace hazardous chemicals with safe alternatives where possible.
Today’s vote comes after years of fierce battles between health campaigners and businesses, who are concerned about the costs of such regulation, estimated at billions of euros. They also believe the law is still far too complicated, and needs to be simplified to be effective.
However, environmentalists and unions argue that the health benefits of eliminating toxic substances outweigh any material costs. They insist any further attempts to amend the legislation would detract from what it is trying to do.
A first draft of the law initially proposed the testing of all 30,000 harmful substances but this has been scaled back to include just the most hazardous. The remainder still have to be registered but many campaigners believe this is not enough.
Speaking yesterday, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) minister Lord Bach said the law was a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to bring together 40 pieces of legislation, which currently made chemical regulation “flawed, bureaucratic and slow”.
“Chemicals pose a huge challenge and a huge opportunity to modern society and we need to take this on now. REACH is the best tool we have to do this, hence its importance to us all,” he said.
In addition, the law – which still has to be approved by national governments – would improve the labelling of products which contain potentially dangerous substances.
The Chemical Industries Association (CIA) welcomed today’s decision, but expressed concern that many useful substances could be removed from the market, even when there was no risk to people or the environment.
“We hope the vote gives this 2005 UK presidency the boost it needs to draw this phase of the debate to a close by the end of the year,” director general Judith Hackitt added.
The amended version of the bill was also welcomed by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), who said it represented a “slightly better balance” than the original draft.
“It supports the high-level aims of protecting human health and the environment, while recognising the threat that the original proposals posed to jobs and our competitiveness,” said director general David Frost.
“After years of discussion and compromises, this represents a more workable and effective solution for small and medium-sized enterprises which are the backbone of our economy.”
