Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 4 • Number 6 • 12th April 2004
APEC Concerned of EU Chemicals Legislation
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In a letter dated 11 March, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat expressed its concerns over the new EU legislation for the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH), which was adopted by the EU in October 2003 (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 3 October 2003). In its letter, the Secretariat states that the implementation of the REACH system would have negative effects particularly on small and medium sized enterprises in developing countries, as these do not have the capacity to comply with the strict deadlines and data requirements. Furthermore, the letter states that “Small and medium enterprises in our region and those economies that depend on commodity exports for their economic growth would be severely affected”. The Asian and Pacific countries are furthermore concerned that the EU industry might turn away from non-EU suppliers thus creating unfair competition in favour of their domestic industry. The new legislation was also under discussion during the last meeting of the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) held on 23 March, where countries criticised the system for being more trade restrictive than necessary due to the complexity of the system. Responding to these concerns the EC extended the period for comments until 21 June 2004. The US has already announced that it would issue a statement by 1 June.
“EU Chemical Legislation Deemed Harmful to Developing Economies and Small Business”, APEC, 12 March 2004; “Europe’s New Chemicals Policy Hits Pacific Rim Resistance”, ENS, 24 March, 2004; ICTSD reporting.
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