Argentina files REACH complaint at WTO

09 November 2007 20:34  [Source: ICIS news]

BUENOS AIRES (ICIS news)--Argentina on Friday lodged a complaint at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals) system for trade with the European Community, said a source close to the situation.

“The main problem is that it is a non-tariff barrier because the cost of registration is too high, even for the European companies”, the source said.

REACH is a package of laws that regulates chemical substances entry to the EU. The complaint was made at the meeting of the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) committee on Friday in Geneva, Switzerland.

The presentation was thought to have the support of the US, Japan, China, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Canada and Thailand, the source said.

Businesses which manufacture or import more than one tonne of a chemical substance per year will be required to register it in a central database administered by the new EU Chemicals Agency, according to the REACH rules.

Those affected by the regulations claim they would be overcharged, because it costs about €60,000 for authorisation and then, the same fee has to be paid again two years later for re-registration.

By: Cristina Kroll
+1 713 525 2653

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