The Politics of Precaution by Vogel David;

Author:Vogel, David;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2012-04-18T04:00:00+00:00

Revising and Debating REACH

The Commission responded by making two important changes. First, it abandoned the White Paper’s “no data, no market” requirement scheme for all chemical substances by reducing testing requirements and simplifying registration procedures for chemicals produced in volumes of less than ten tons. Second, it weakened the White Paper’s substitution requirement. According to the Commission, these changes would reduce the financial burdens on the chemical industry and chemical users by approximately 80 percent, or 2.3–5.2 billion euros, over eleven years. The Commission then presented its revised proposal as a “streamlined and cost-effective system” that struck “the right balance between maintaining growth and employment in Europe on one hand and improving health and the environment on the other.”16

But this compromise pleased no one. Chemical producers still claimed the costs of compliance with REACH’s registration requirements were too high, and would disproportionally burden smaller firms, while NGOs, public health groups, and trade unions were disappointed that REACH’s provisions would no longer apply equally to all chemicals.

Both sides, as well as the Commission, subsequently produced a steady stream of reports and rebuttals that offered highly divergent assessments of the costs of REACH. Challenging the chemical industry’s claim of additional costs of more than 7.5 billion euros, the Commission estimated additional costs of only 2.1 billion euros. Another study predicted compliance costs of 5.25–8 billion euros, or less than 0.1 percent of the chemical industry’s annual sales. REACH’s supporters, in addition to challenging industry claims about its costs, further argued that any analysis of the impact of legislation should also include an assessment of its environmental and human health benefits as well as the cost savings of not having to clean up contaminated waste sites.17 They also claimed that the legislation would improve, rather than weaken, the industry’s global competitiveness by making chemicals produced in Europe the world’s safest.

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