Czech industry group fears Reach impact on SMEs

22 November 2005 17:44  [Source: ICIS news]

PRAGUE (ICIS news)--The Czech Chemical Industry Association (SCHP) will lobby against the proposed amended EU Reach chemical laws on Tuesday, saying that the new legislation could jeopardise the future of hundreds of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

SCHP director Ladislav Novak said it was too early to assess the accuracy of estimates, published by Czech daily Hospodarske noviny, showing that the tabled more moderate laws would halve anticipated Reach costs for larger well-known Czech chemical companies, including Synthesia, Chemopetrol, Spolana and Spolchemie. Synthesia previously said its Reach bill could tally Koruna1bn ($40m/Euro34.4m).

“I would be very surprised if these larger companies are happy with this compromise and we will be lobbying for even more moderate laws before this legislation goes to the second reading,” Novak said.

He believed that any micro-sized or SME chemical company producing less than 10 tonne of chemicals per year could still face business-shattering costs. “It’s particularly the case where the 10 tonne is made up of 100 or so different agents. The business would have to get 100 licences at Koruna30,000 each. Just imagine that!”

The SCHP agreed that the revised legislation would allow greater sharing of registration costs among the larger players but there were around 2,000 Czech companies and a similar number of Hungarian firms that remained very anxious about potential Reach implications, concluded Novak.

By: Will Conroy
+44 20 8652 3214

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