EU to soften REACH requirements?

The European Commission looks to have stepped back from requiring chemical companies from re-testing for safety of up to 30,000 chemicals already used and sold in Europe, according to a statement from the European Environment Bureau.

The non-governmental organisation (NGO) said that leaked Commission 'interservice' legislative texts on the regulations indicate that the Commission is set to water down the proposals dramatically.

Under the original draft of the regulations, all chemicals manufactured within the EU at over one tonne would be required to be tested and registered through a new Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) system.

While the REACH regulations do not specifically apply to the pharmachem industry, many companies working in this sector would be affected by the legislation.

The latest draft has increased this limit to 10 tonnes, according to the EEB​, which adds that this will exempt 20,000 of around 30,000 chemicals on the market from the legislation's requirements. The Commission is due to finalise the proposals on 29 October, after a comment period of four months.

The alleged climbdown comes after months of intensive lobbying by the chemicals industry and national governments, including that of the USA, which claimed that the policy would have dramatic consequences in terms of lost jobs.

However, the Commission said that the text given out by the EEB was a working document and should not be taken as the final version. The proposals had been altered on the basis of contributed comments in order to alleviate some of the cost implications of the proposals, he said.

One other issue that companies were concerned about was that of confidentiality. The working document grants businesses confidentiality rights, with automatic anonymity to any company that registers its chemicals, according to the EEB.