Reach: US ACC says plan impractical, costly - seeks delay

10 July 2003 23:56  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (CNI)--The American Chemistry Council (ACC) said Thursday that the proposed European chemicals testing program is "burdensome, costly and impractical" and urged the European Union (EU) to allow more international comment on the proposal before making it final.

In its formal comments to the European Commission (EC) today concerning the EC's proposed registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (Reach) testing program, ACC said the plan "seeks considerably more information than is required to assure that chemicals are produced and used as safely as possible." The EC proposal, said ACC, "imposes a high cost on industry and governments" and would undermine efforts toward global standards for chemicals regulation.

In general, said the ACC, the EC Reach proposal:

• Adopts measures inconsistent with the EU's obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO);
• Creates "significant competitive impact" on chemical manufacturers, importers and downstream users; and 
• Is incompatible with broader trends toward harmonisation of international chemical regulation.

Arlington, Virginia-based ACC said that instead of requiring a broad information gathering requirement, "the EU's chemical regulatory system should rely in the first instance on information and data that are already available, and from that starting point assess risk management and whether additional information is required."

The ACC also made a series of recommended changes to the Reach proposal - chiefly based on the use of risk assessment rather than blanket testing as the starting point for the regulatory program - and urged further study.

"In light of the significant commercial and economic implications of the [Reach] proposal both in Europe and abroad," said ACC, we "strongly recommend that the [EC] consider providing an additional opportunity for comment on the draft regulation prior to making the proposal final."

The ACC's member companies account for some 90% of US basic industrial chemicals manufacturing capacity.

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