EU Parliament Committee Adopts Reach

The European Union’s pending legislation on the registration, evaluation, and authorization of chemicals (REACH) crossed a key hurdle last week. The European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health & Food Safety on Oct. 4 approved a version of REACH that the chemical industry is unhappy about and environmental groups give mixed reviews to. CEFIC, the European Chemical Industry Council, criticizes the compromise adopted by the committee because it would require extensive data on substances manufactured or imported in volumes of 10 to 100 metric tons per year and mandate substitution of hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives, when available. A coalition of European environmental groups endorses the provision on substitution but is unhappy with a change that would require less data on chemicals produced in volumes of 1 to 10 metric tons annually. The full parliament, which functions as the lower house of the EU legislature, is scheduled to take up the REACH legislation on Nov. 15.