Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 5 • Number 1 • 21st January 2005
Public Hearing Tackles REACH Legislation
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Ahead of the first reading of the EU’s proposed system of Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) in the European Parliament, some 1000 participants from civil society groups, industry, journalists, Members of the European Parliament (MEP) and the public came together at a public hearing on 19 January to debate the workability of the chemicals legislation. Among others, participants raised issues related to the impacts of REACH on industry competitiveness, the need for equal competition with non-EU countries, compliance with WTO rules, the special concerns of small and medium sized enterprises and the need to minimise animal testing. The hearing also discussed the UK-Hungary proposal to simplify the registration procedure by allowing companies to form consortia to share the cost of registration (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 3 December 2004). It remained unclear, however, whether the proposals would be revised ahead of the first reading in light of recent impact assessments, as called for by some MEPs. As Enterprise and Industry Commissioner Günter Verheugen noted, the assessments presented “variations so great that it is scarcely possible to come to conclusions.”
“Parliament kicks off debate on chemicals,” EURACTIV, 21 January 2005.
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