Est. 2min 18-09-2008 (updated: 28-05-2012 ) chemicals_testtubes_isp.jpg Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Languages: Français | DeutschPrint Email Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram The first list of hazardous chemicals to be submitted for EU regulatory approval may only contain 12 substances, said EU Chemicals Agency Director Geert Dancet during a conference which saw the launch of another document listing some 270 chemicals that meet the official REACH criteria for authorisation. Public interest groups and NGOs jointly drafted a REACH SIN List of some 270 substances to be substituted in priority under the REACH regulation. Per Rosander, the director of the International Chemical Secretariat (ChemSec), described the list as “the first collaborative effort to identify substances that meet the official REACH criteria for authorisation” and urged companies to take a proactive approach to substituting carcinogenic, persistent and bioaccumulative chemicals with safer alternatives. While the SIN, or ‘Subsitute it now’, list identifies hundereds of chemicals of very high concern, the Member State Committee (MSC) of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), in charge of making the proposals for identification of these substances, has so far identified just 16 substances for inclusion on the first list. The committee will meet next month to discuss the list, as it was unable to find unanimity on four of the 16 substances. The final list to be published mid-October might therefore include only 12 substances, said Geert Dancet, the executive director of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). REACH is about learning-by-doing and “I want to be very clear that the candidate list is a living list,” Dancet added, saying ECHA wished to update and add new substances to the list “at least once a year”. According to him, “authorities should also carefully consider what is the best risk management option – restriction or authorisation – as mixing the two is highly complicated and not advisable.” Read more with Euractiv Old-growth forests important carbon sinks, says study Old-growth forests of the northern hemisphere act as global carbon sinks but are not protected by international treaties, according to new EU-funded research published in the journal Nature. Subscribe now to our newsletter EU Elections Decoded Email Address * Politics Newsletters PositionsAsked whether the list was too short, Geert Dancet, executive director of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), said it was "relatively short", but this was because the process is just starting and everybody is struggling to establish and become familiar with new heavy administrative procedures and dealing with scarce resources available for testing chemicals. He also said that working procedures needed streamlining as otherwise new administrative burdens could "overload the system". He did not comment on the SIN list. All chemicals on the SIN list "are dangerous and deserve to be on the candidate list of REACH," noted a member of the list's advisory committee Daryl W. Ditz, a policy advisor at the Chemicals Program Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL) in the US. Ditz said the aim of the list is "to help provide guidance to businesses so that they can make wise choices" and start substituting dangerous chemicals before regulation. The list gives downstream chemical users (companies making automobiles, electronics, buildings, consumer products, toys, food, etc.) "an early warning" and thus time to find their own solutions and new suppliers "who give them something safer". Seeing the list, a smart company will start making plans because using these chemicals in ten years "will not be good business," he added. Ditz also underlined that the first REACH candidate list was about chemicals defined by their properties: if they cause cancer, birth defects or are persistent, "it does not mean they are all banned, just that they are identified". According to him, diverse companies and NGOs agree that the most harmful chemicals need to be substituted. But it is normal for companies to be cautious about substitutes, because before getting rid of one substance, they need to be sure about the safety of the other, Ditz concluded. "Companies closest to the end-user and consumer know that things have to change. They have already turned to public interest organisations for advice," agreed ChemSec senior policy advisor Nardono Nimpuno, adding that anticipating consumer demand for safer products had already made some companies both more innovative and more competitive. Cefic, the European Chemical Industry Council, noted that the responsibility for identifying substances of very high concern in REACH "lies exclusively with ECHA and the EU member states". It therefore believes that any list published outside the official identification process "might be confusing and not helpful in establishing REACH as the centrepiece of the chemicals legislation". "The 'SIN list' is a proposal from a specific interest group and not part of the overall REACH legal design. It could potentially contribute to confusion throughout the value chain," stated Cefic. BackgroundFollowing the adoption of the EU chemicals legislation REACH in 2006, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is currently finalising a candidate list of chemicals that present the most cause for concern regarding public health and the environment. The EU 27 are responsible for proposing substances for inclusion on the list of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) such as chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects and other serious health defects and which persist in the environment and accumulate in our bodies. By the deadline of early June 2008, member states had nominated 16 substances. In addition, the Commission asked ECHA to prepare dossiers on five other substances. The first chemicals on the candidate list will be the ones to be put on a priority list and need to go through special scrutiny before they are authorised. The priority list will thus be drafted based on the candidate list and is due to be published in June 2009. Timeline 22 Oct. 2008: Target date for publication of the first candidate list. June 2009: First priority list proposal published. Autumn 2009: Final priority list published. Further ReadingEuropean Union European Chemicals Agency (ECHA):(Homepage) Business & Industry European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) press release:Chemical Industry Calls for Unified REACH Approach(16 September 2008) NGOs and Think-Tanks International Chemical Secretariat press release:NGO list aims to rid market of chemicals of high concern(17 September 2008) International Chemical Secretariat:The REACH SIN* List (*Substitute It Now!)
