By Martin Banks - 31st May 2007
Landmark new EU chemical legislation, commonly known as REACH, formally comes into force across the EU on June 1
Replacing various pieces of European legislation with a single system, REACH – Registration, Evaluation and the Authorisation of Chemicals – will be rolled out over several years.
The law is designed to make firms prove the thousands of chemicals they use in products from cars to clothes are safe.
It will, importantly, include a number of chemicals that have not undergone any safety assessment before.
Chemicals manufactured or imported into the EU in quantities of more than 1000 tonnes a year and substances of highest concern, such as carcinogenic, mutagenic and reproductive toxic substances, need to be registered within the first three years and the rest will follow.
Final agreement on the deal, reached by parliament last December, came after years of wrangling between firms keen to avoid more red tape and environmentalists seeking to cut the use of hazardous pollutants.
UK Conservative MEP John Bowis, who, as Tory coordinator on parliament's environment and health committee, was at the heart of the negotiations, said he welcomed “this far-reaching regulation”, describing it as a landmark piece of environmental and health protection legislation.
“A balance has been found to provide businesses with legal certainty, confidentiality and protection of intellectual property, to minimise the need for animal testing and to promote alternatives to animal testing,” he said.
REACH has been described as the most important piece of EU legislation for 20 years but introduction of the new law will not be universally welcomed.
Diana Smith, of the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), the leading Brussels-based environmental NGO, said, “Although this legislation will move Europe towards a new approach to chemicals regulation, we believe it is far too early to celebrate.
“REACH has flaws and loopholes and is vulnerable to further weakening in the future.”
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