A compromise was REACHED across the political spectrum
MEPs look set to give the final go-ahead to a European law that from April will set up a system for the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (REACH). It will force manufacturers and importers to list the substances they produce and any possible dangers, affecting an estimated 30,000 of the 100,000 chemicals currently on the EU market. Many of these are found in everyday items - soap, toys and garden products being just three examples.
A key factor driving the legislation has been uncertainty over the impact of chemicals on human health and the environment. Since 1981 EU legislation has made testing compulsory although such safeguards do not exist for the estimated 100,000 substances which were already on the market.
While the need to protect people's health and the environment has been paramount - the question of overburdening the European chemical industry with laborious rules has been hotly debated. The EU accounts for about a third of global chemical production and 1.7 million people directly and 3 million more indirectly so this was an important issue.
The balance struck by EU governments and the European Parliament on REACH is an attempt to balance concerns.
The goal of REACH
The objective of REACH is threefold: to control dangerous chemicals, to substitute the most dangerous chemicals with less hazardous ones and finally to replace 40 incoherent pieces of legislation with one law.
The main points of REACH are;
Registration - the compulsory registration of all chemicals.
Evaluation - governments can take a closer look at registration documents and, if necessary, ask for more information.
Authorisation - the most hazardous chemicals (about 1500) will have to be authorised by a new European Chemicals Agency to be based in Finland's capital, Helsinki.
Some critics of the new measures have said that increased regulation could lead to more animal testing although supporters of REACH have dismissed these concerns.
Given the complexity of the chemical industry, REACH has been one of the EU's longest running issues. As long ago as 1998 European leaders expressed concern about the regulation of chemicals in the EU. In 2003 the European Commission published a first proposal - this was passed by Parliament at a first reading in November 2005, Wednesday's vote marks the second and final reading before it becomes law.
Watch the debate and the vote live on the Parliament's website. The debate begins on Monday at 1700 and the vote will be on Wednesday at 1200.
