EU Says Reach Complies with Trade Rules

The European Union's pending chemical registration legislation complies with international trade rules, the European Commission said earlier this month. The statement came in a draft response to formal comments from countries in Asia and the Americas arguing that the EU's planned Registration, Evaluation & Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) program would violate World Trade Organization standards (C&EN, June 28, page 31). These arguments could become the basis of formal trade complaints once REACH is finalized. The commission, the administrative arm of the EU, responded that REACH was carefully devised to comport with global trade requirements. Comments submitted on REACH by various governments and the American Chemistry Council raised no WTO-related issues that had not already been considered in the development of the plan, the commission said. "The commission therefore remains confident that its proposal is WTO-compatible," it said.