NPRA '07: EU Reach rules to hamper US innovation

26 March 2007 02:19  [Source: ICIS news]

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (ICIS news)--The tightening regulatory regime for chemicals in Europe will be a brake on innovation, US industry officials warned on Sunday.

The initial stage of the EU's programme for the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (Reach) takes effect later this year.

"There will be an additional cost and burden on innovative companies," said David Aldous, chairman of the program committee for the NPRA petrochemical conference, the US industry's major annual event.

The extensive vetting process for new products would hamper makers of speciality chemicals and catalysts in particular, Aldous told a news conference.

NPRA officials estimated the cost of testing each new product so it would comply with the Reach rules at €2m ($2.7m).

But one official acknowledged that European policymakers had responded positively to efforts by NPRA to ease the impact of the new rules on US companies somewhat by recognizing chemical compound tests carried out in the US under the voluntary high production volume (HPV) programme.

($1 = €0.75)

By: Stephen Burns
+1 713 525 2653

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