Row over phtalates in PVC toys
European parliament is close to provoking a confrontation with EU governments on phtaltes in toys
16.06.2005 |Sonja Haider
The European parliament is close to provoking a confrontation with EU governments on phthalates in toys after its environment committee voted on Tuesday for much wider restrictions than agreed by ministers last year. By chance, governments' common position on the legislation was published in the EU official journal on the same day. Governments decided that three phthalates - DINP, DIDP and DNOP - should be excluded from toys and childcare articles aimed at under-threes and capable of being put in the mouth. The environment committee has now called for the ban to apply irrespective of target age group. Lifting the age restriction would extend the ban to large swathes of the toy market such as dolls, in which DINP is widely used (ED 24/05/05).
If the full parliament backs the change, it would force ministers into considering a compromise with MEPs. This process could be politically difficult since governments had to struggle for years to reach their own compromise position (ED 24/09/04).
The vote has perplexed and angered phthalate manufacturers. "There is a core of politicians who are only interested in reaching a preconceived conclusion," Tim Edgar of plasticisers trade body Ecpi said.
The industry was equally concerned about a proposal on product labelling adopted by the committee. This would require warning labels reading "contains phthalates - not to be kept in the mouth" on products not covered by the ban.
Parliamentary sources suggested the amendment made little sense since, under the committee's position, only products not capable of being mouthed would be allowed to contain the three phthalates. Parliament's rapporteur on the dossier had "wanted the label at all costs", one told Environment Daily.
Environmental group Greenpeace applauded the committee's amendments as a step that would "require the chemicals industry to use safer alternatives". It accused Ecpi of "irresponsible lobbying".
