EU Reach to impact US market and research

30 January 2007 19:06  [Source: ICIS news]

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (ICIS news)--Impending implementation of the European Union’s (EU) new chemical registration programme will have broad effect on US manufacturers’ market strategies and research, a US lawyer said on Tuesday.

 

Robert Matthews, a partner in the Washington-based law firm of McKenna Long & Aldridge, warned chemical industry executives on Tuesday that the EU’s newly enacted programme for registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (Reach) “is more than just an environmental matter or a matter of product stewardship”.

 

“Reach will affect US companies broadly - even those that do not do business in Europe - by forcing changes in their market strategies, research and development [R&D] and in product selection and substitutions,” he said.

 

Speaking at the opening session of a two-day conference on US compliance obligations under Reach, Matthews said the new EU regulatory system will have worldwide impact because chemicals that in time will be banned in Europe and barred from products imported to European countries will affect production and use decisions around the world.

 

“One goal and intent of Reach is to ultimately remove from the marketplace what Reach regulators will determine are substances of very high concern (SVHC),” he said.  “But an unintended consequence will be that the high cost and effort required of companies to successfully register their chemical products under Reach will outweigh the profit potential for some substances that otherwise do not pose an environmental risk.”

 

He cautioned that chemicals that are merely listed as candidates for blacklisting under Reach rules will face prompt de-selection by users globally. US chemical producers must in those cases be ready with alternative products, he said.

 

Matthews also warned that many in the US Congress already are looking at legislation to impose a US-style Reach programme. He noted that the principal US chemicals regulatory statute, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), has not been amended in 30 years and may be the legislative vehicle for Congress to enact a US version of Reach.

 

“One way or another,” Matthews said, “Reach will have profound affect on the US chemicals industry.”

 

The two-day Reach compliance conference is sponsored by the American Chemistry Council and the Canadian Chemical Producers Association.

By: Joe Kamalick
+1 713 525 2653

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