MEP's: don't render REACH redundant !!

Women's Community calls on Members of the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee (ENVI)

30.09.2005 |Daniela Rosche

MEP's - don't render REACH redundant !!

Women's Community calls on Members of the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee (ENVI)

In a letter sent to MEPs on Friday 23.09.05, WECF and the European Women's Lobby (EWL) ask their Parliamentarians to ensure that fundamental aspects of the proposed REACH system are not undermined but instead strengthened. REACH is the proposed EU regulation on chemicals "Registration, Evaluation, Authorization of CHemicals".

According to Daniela Rosche, WECF Policy Coordinator, ENVI members "should not yield to industry pressure. Now is the time to stand strong and act in the interest of women, men and future generations. We need better health and environmental protection in Europe".

The vote of ENVI is crucial to the plenary vote scheduled for 16 November in Strassbourg, because it determines what the final REACH regulation will look like.

"The last thing Europeans need now, is another proof of disregard for people's needs; which a crippled REACH would be" says Rosche.

WECF contact: Daniela Rosche, 0031-6-2296-0027

To download the letter by WECF and the European Women's Lobby, click here
____________________________________________

Brussels, 23 September 2005

RE: Upcoming vote on REACH proposal

Dear Member of the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee of the European Parliament,

We are writing to you on behalf of Women in Europe for a Common Future and the European Women’s Lobby, two large European networks of women’s organisations, to express our concerns about the forthcoming vote on the draft EU chemicals policy reform, REACH. As you are aware, a number of amendments to REACH have been adopted by the ITRE and IMCO committees, which, we believe could seriously hamper REACH, to the point of rendering it redundant.

It is the responsibility of ENVI to ensure that the REACH proposal passed on to the EP Plenary is effective and efficient in protecting women’s health and that of future generations, as well as in the protecting the environment. As you know, REACH has many supporters, including: women’s groups, environmental activists, workers and unions, doctors and other health professionals, scientists and progressive industry and many concerned citizens have committed their support for a strong REACH.

We are aware that industry is working to ensure that amendments are passed along the lines of the so-called “risk-based” approach. Yet, we think that this approach should be rejected, as it seriously threatens the initial objectives of REACH. Unfortunately, the IMCO and ITRE committees have adopted amendments that undermine the very core of REACH in the following ways:

Only 10.000 substances of above 100.000 substances on the EU market will be adequately screened for their hazards and risks.

This means that we will continue to be left in the dark on the great majority of chemicals on the EU market. This is especially galling for women as reproductive toxicity and other properties of chemicals will not be brought into light.

There will be no phase-out of the very worst chemicals on the EU market.

Insufficient data will make it impossible to identify hazardous chemicals and take them off the market - future generations will therefore continue to be exposed to them through a variety of outlets.

There will be no duty of care for industry to ensure that their products are safe.

The EU and its Member States will thus continue to pay for industry’s pollution and the 50 billion EUR that could be saved through REACH will instead be spent on health care costs.

The burden of proof will be placed back on authorities rather than industry

As a result, the new Chemicals Agency will have to chase after information from registrant companies, which can take years and will prevent expeditious action on substances of very high concern. This practice means maintaining of the status quo and cannot ensure effective chemicals management.

We believe that those amendments would render REACH redundant. We are counting on you to ensure that the short-term interests of the chemical industry do not override the public interest in the protection of the health and well being of women, men and future generations as well as the protection of the environment in Europe. Therefore, we urge you to continue your support for the ENVI draft opinion on REACH as put forth by the Committee’s Rapporteur Guido Sacconi. In addition, we would like to ask for your support of the following priority amendments:

Strengthening the Registration procedure

further prioritisation of PBT and vPvB substances and those of “equivalent concern” (amendments 580, 581, 584)
a chemical safety report for substances between 1-10 tpa which is essential to identify hazardous chemicals and ensure effective communication with downstream user (amendments 535 and 536)
reintroduction of three non-animal tests in Annex V testing on biodegradability, alagal toxicity and mutagenicity (amendment 1104)
support the OSOR compromise package

Strengthening the Authorization procedure

deletion of the “adequate control route” and promote substitution plans for all authorisations (amendments 690, 696, 58, 59, 695 696, 69766, 722, 723, 729, 731, 71, 713, 63, 718)

precautionary action on endocrine disrupting chemicals (amendments 52, 645)

objective of authorisation procedures (amendment 597)

no blanket exemptions from authorization in order to ensure safer alternatives for chemicals of very high concern are always considered (amendments 600, 624, 654, 655, 669, 725)

set up a candidate list for substances meeting the authorisation criteria (amendments 53, 630, 631, 686, 676, 57)

time- limited authorizations (amendments 652, 707, 55, 653, 61, 705, 706)

A legally binding Duty of Care to ensure safe chemicals on the EU market (amendments 180 and 181 including relevant parts of amendments 183, 812, 3, 5)

Should you have any further questions regarding matters raised above, please do not hesitate to contact us. Your vote is crucial to ensure a safe, sustainable and responsible future European chemicals policy and we very much hope that in making your decision you will take into account the point of view of the women of Europe that we represent. This once-in-a-lifetime chance cannot be wasted.

In the meantime we remain, yours sincerely,


Sascha Gabizon                                        Kirsti Kolthoff
International Director WECF                    President of EWL