Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 5 • Number 21 • 25th November 2005

European Parliament Approves Reach Chemicals Legislation

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The European Parliament on 17 November voted by a significant majority to approve REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals), the new European chemicals legislation. The agreement, which was based on a cross-party deal hammered out the week prior to the Parliament vote (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 11 November 2005), includes basic registration requirements for quantities of chemicals between 1 and 10 tonnes and supports the possibility for waivers of safety testing for 10 to 100 tonnes “based on satisfactory justification of risk”. Although environmental groups criticised these compromises on the required safety information, they welcomed two new provisions that were added to the final text as relatively pro-environmental while opponents criticised them for being unnecessarily burdensome. One new provision refers to the ’substitution principle’ which requires companies to cease production and use of dangerous chemicals and replace them with safer alternatives when these are available, while another new provision limits the duration of authorisations to five years. The approved text incorporates several thousand amendments, including some that respond to concerns raised by the US, Japan and African countries that the new measures may be pose barrier to trade. John Bowis, a member of the Parliament’s Environment Committee, said that although he thought the EU should promote REACH-type standards in multilateral trade negotiations to ensure a “level playing field that includes environmental and health requirements”, it was necessary to “take account of the very real worries among developing countries, especially on the issue of minerals and mining products, and ensure that we do not damage their fragile economies”. Sources suggest that more than 30 governments in the WTO have raised concerns about the trade and competitive impacts of REACH.

EU member states will discuss the new legislation on 28-29 November in the Competitiveness Council, but the vote itself will take place on 19 December.

ICTSD Reporting; “Parliament backs safety assessment of chemicals,” EURACTIV, 17 November 2005; “Britain sets December date for EU chemicals deal,” REUTERS, 18 November 2005; “EU Parliament Passes Chemical Legislation In First Reading; Ministers to Review in Dec,” WTO REPORTER, 21 November 2005, “Parliament backs new EU law on toxic chemicals,” REUTERS, 17 November 2005; ” America’s Chemical Makers Dismayed by E.U. ‘REACH’ Vote,” PRNEWSWIRE, 18 November 2005.