Archived press release

Slimmed-Down REACH Needs Healthy Supplements

29 October 2003

Brussels, 29 October 2003 - Environmental, health and women's NGOs expressed disappointment with today's European Commission decision to put chemicals producers' interests before public health and the environment in adopting its proposal for regulating chemical safety: REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals).

After five years of discussion and many delays, the Commission has finally proposed a Regulation to reform the existing flawed rules on chemical management. But it is a mere shadow of plans drafted earlier this year, having been watered down to suit many unjustified industry demands.

Eleven years after the law is finally adopted (ie 2016), two-thirds of all chemicals on the registry might still not carry enough safety information. Furthermore, the proposal overturns existing EU principles. EU workers' protection and environment legislation emphasises the need to eliminate and substitute hazardous chemicals, but the Commission now proposes simply to minimise exposure through `adequate control', without getting rid of them altogether. This could allow the continued use of chemicals accumulating in breast milk, reducing fertility and causing allergies in everyday consumer products, such as children's toys, carpets and many other household goods.

"A few big and dirty companies have driven the Commission to set a dangerous precedent: allowing specific business interests to prevail public health and environment protection. The Commission intends to test REACH together with industry. We insist that the Commission includes in the testing the achievements for public health and environment," said John Hontelez, Secretary General of the European Environmental Bureau.

"The loophole for hazardous chemicals is a very serious flaw in this draft. Parliament and national governments must use their chance to close this. Citizens' health must come first," said Mary Taylor from Friends of the Earth UK.

"REACH has been stripped down to its bare bones. While we are happy that the skeleton is now out of the cupboard, we expect it to be fully fleshed out before it becomes law," said Jorgo Iwasaki Riss of Greenpeace.

"It has taken 30 years for the EU to address the issue of the health impact of dangerous chemicals. Unfortunately, the REACH proposals do not yet show the way out of using hazardous chemicals in everyday consumer goods," stated Tamsin Rose, General Secretary of the European Public Health Alliance.

"We don't want our right to live and work in a healthy environment to be compromised. We need our Parliament and Council to strengthen the EU chemical policy proposal, and ensure that the protection of health comes first," said Sylvia Altamira of Women in Europe for a Common Future."

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust