Reach: US chem officials warn of negative social impact

18 November 2005 21:45  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (ICIS news)--A US chemical industry official said on Friday that implementation of the European Union (EU) Reach programme for registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (Reach) may well have a negative effect on the environment.

 

Michael Walls, managing director at the American Chemistry Council (ACC), said the unintended consequences of the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (Reach) programme could have a “net negative societal impact” in Europe. Walls said that Reach, if implemented in its newly-amended form, could harm the environment and human health by eliminating beneficial chemicals and chemical products.

 

Although Walls said he could not cite a specific example, he warned that Reach’s registration process and its attendant costs could force producers of small-volume specialty chemicals to remove those products from the marketplace for economic reasons.

 

An amended version of Reach was given its first-reading approval on Thursday by the European Parliament (EP).  The measure still faces possible revision by the EU Council of Ministers and a second reading in the EP next year. 

 

Walls said Reach requirements also could force market removal of some chemicals already in safe use because Reach requires automatic replacement of an existing chemical product if a substitute is available. That sort of automatic replacement, he said, would eliminate a manageable risk perhaps at the cost of a societal benefit.

 

Reach also could have negative impact on European society, Walls said, because it likely will induce European chemical consumers to give still greater preference to domestic suppliers over imports, which could limit Europe’s access to innovations from abroad.

By: Joe Kamalick
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