On 14 October 2020 the European Commission adopted the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability. The Commission’s proposals, which will now be debated and negotiated with EU Member States and the European Parliament, set an ambitious new agenda for chemicals regulation within the Union as part of the EU Green Deal.
The Commission claims that the proposals will -
ban the most harmful chemicals in consumer products - allowing their use only where essential;
account for the cocktail effect of chemicals when assessing risks from chemicals;
phase out the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the EU, unless their use is essential;
boost the investment and innovative capacity for production and use of chemicals that are safe and sustainable by design, and throughout their life cycle;
promote the EU’s resilience of supply and sustainability of critical chemicals
establishing a simpler “one substance one assessment” process for the risk and hazard assessment of chemicals; and
enable the EU to play a leading role globally by championing and promoting high standards and not exporting chemicals banned in the EU.
Chemical manufacturing within the EU involves 30,000 companies, 95% of them SMEs, and supports 1.2 million direct jobs and 3.6 million indirect jobs.
The EU’s system of chemical regulation includes the REACH chemicals Regulation (REACH) on the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals; the Regulation on the Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Hazardous Substances (CLP); and specific legislation on the safety of toys, cosmetics, biocides, plant protection products, food, carcinogens in the workplace and legislation on environmental protection.
The new proposals will take forward specific measures on –
Safe and sustainable-by-design criteria for chemicals
Non-Toxic Material Cycles
Innovating Industrial Production
Strengthening EU’s Open Strategic Autonomy (i.e. addressing strategic dependencies and value chains)
Protection Against Most Harmful Chemicals
Endocrine Disruptors
Chemical Mixtures(e.g. mixture assessment factors, and regulatory consideration of combination effects, which has long been a problem area in many jurisdictions)
Chemical Pollution in Natural Environment
PFAS
Coordinate and Simplify Actions Across EU Chemical Legislation(e.g. ‘One Substance, One Assessment’)
Methodologies and Data
Zero Tolerance for Non-Compliance
Information Requirements(e.g. extending registration under REACH to some polymers of concern)
Science-Policy Interface
International Leadership
Cooperation with Third Countries.
For further information contact William Wilson at info@wyesideconsulting.com tel +44(0)1225-730-407