DEVELOPMENT CONCERNS RAISED OVER EUROPEAN CHEMICALS LEGISLATION

The European Parliament on 8 November said that major political groups had come to a compromise agreement on the draft European Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) legislation that is expected to ease the adoption process in the run up to the 17 November vote on the text. The REACH legislation has been the result of several years of negotiations that have sought to balance European concerns regarding the safety of the environment and human health with the insistence of EU chemicals producers that the new rules inflict the minimum cost and burden on industry in the region (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 16 September 2005). In the run up to the 17 November vote, South African President Thabo Mbeki took the opportunity to point out the potential impact of the new rules on trade and development in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.

Talks heat up in Brussels

Last-minute negotiations in the European Parliament (EP) yielded a number of concessions that suggest the 17 November vote may go more smoothly than anticipated. Socialist and centre-right groups in the EP on 8 November were able to agree on elements such as a simplified 18-month pre-registration phase; the introduction of categories to implement a risk-based requirement for testing; the creation of a waiver option to reduce safety data requirements for low-risk chemicals that are produced in quantities of between 10 to 100 tonnes per year; and the adoption of an opt-out provision to common registration procedures to enable companies to maintain confidentially if considered necessary. The new deal would also require a minimum basic testing of the chemicals which are produced in quantities of 1 to 10 tons.

Guido Sacconi, a EP Member and the Parliament's main rapporteur on the controversial REACH dossier from the Environment committee, described the final deal as a "balance" that could enable agreement in Parliament and possibly in the final Competitiveness Council vote that is scheduled to follow on 27-28 November. However, the new German government has asked for the Parliament to delay its vote in order to allow German decision-makers to formulate a national policy on the issue, a request that the Parliament will decide on 11 November.

Environmental group WWF criticised the new amendments, saying that as the amended legislation stands, it "will be unable to effectively address the failure of the current chemicals legislation and to protect human health and the environment".

What impact on developing countries?

The EU's trading partners have repeatedly asked the European Commission to take into account the impacts of the new rules on exports, in particular on small and medium sized enterprises in developing countries (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 2 April 2004).

Most recently, development concerns were raised by South African President Thabo Mbeki in letters sent the week of 24 October in which he urged European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and British Prime Minster Tony Blair to consider the costs of the REACH legislation on South African and ACP country producers, costs which he said "would push African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states further into poverty". Jerry Matjila, South African ambassador to the EU, pointed out that the current REACH coverage of the mining sector could adversely affect the development prospects of African nations and potentially hurt the achievement of the development objectives that the UK, which currently holds the presidency of the EU and the G8, has been striving to promote. He indicated that 20 ACP states depend on mining exports for more than 10 percent of their total revenues, and in 16 of those countries, mining makes up more than 30 percent of exports. He added, "If REACH is passed in its present form ... we will suffer quite a lot in Africa, in the ACP countries".

South African Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma brought up the issue at a 7 November meeting of the sixth South African-European Union Joint Co-operation Council (JCC) in Belgium. While pointing out the concerns of South African industry, South African and European officials also discussed broader developmental implications of REACH will have, including by affecting the access that African countries will have to EU markets.

"African Nations Pressure EU Over Chemicals Bill," REUTERS, 31 October 2005; "Dlamini-Zuma Leads SA Delegation to Belgium," BUANEWS, 4 November 2005; " Germany calls for time out on REACH," EURACTIV, 7 November 2005; "Cross-party agreement on REACH emerges in Parliament," EURATIV, 10 November 2005; "EU Lawmakers Reach Compromise on Chemicals Bill," REUTERS, 10 November 2005.