The European Union is set to usher in an era of tighter regulation for the global chemicals industry on Wednesday with a new law that requires registration and authorisation of thousands of substances deemed harmful to the environment and human health, according to Reuters. The law, considered the largest piece of legislation in EU history, has pitted industry against environmentalists for years and drawn attacks from the United States and Africa for its potential effects on trade. Known as REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals), the bill was designed to make companies prove that substances in everyday products such as cars, cellular phones and paint are safe. The properties of roughly 30,000 chemicals produced or imported in the EU would have to be registered with a central, Helsinki-based agency. Those of highest concern, such as carcinogens, would require testing and authorisation to be used. This process could lead to outright bans. The rules are slated to go into force in mid-2007 after what will likely be the final vote on Wednesday in the European Parliament, which is expected to back a compromise deal hammered out with EU governments late last month. The deal settled the most contentious issues left three years after the European Commission first proposed REACH. It requires that persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic chemicals be removed from the market if suitable alternatives exist. Companies would have to submit a "substitution plan" when seeking authorisation for the roughly 1,500 chemicals expected to be considered of high concern. But if they can be adequately controlled, the substances will be approved. Activists on both sides of the debate are unhappy with the deal. Environmentalists say it will allow dangerous substances to enter the market even when safer alternatives are available. Industry groups say the substitution plans are unnecessary and create legal uncertainty about the authorisation procedure. The parliament is due to debate the bill on Monday evening. Guido Sacconi, the Italian Socialist chiefly responsible for steering REACH through the legislature, has said he expects broad backing from the main political groups for the compromise. But the Greens said on Monday they had tabled amendments that would bring back elements stricken from the compromise that require mandatory substitution of safer chemicals for hazardous ones. "How can we go back to our electorate, the EU citizens whom this rule is designed to protect, and tell them we agreed to allow the continued use of very hazardous substances in consumer products even when it is not necessary?" Greens lawmaker Carl Schlyter said in a statement. The deal will require an absolute majority in the parliament -- equivalent to 367 votes -- to be approved.
