On the 8th of May 2023, the European Commission launched a public consultation as part of a legislative initiative which aims to prevent the production and export of hazardous substances which are banned in the EU
The objective of the consultation is to gather feedback from the public and specifically stakeholders, such as researchers, industry and trade bodies. The consultation was open for 12 weeks in total with a closing date of the 31st of July 2023.
The initiative was established under the Commission’s Chemical Strategy for Sustainability, which was published in October of 2020, and aims to protect non-EU countries from the harmful environmental and human health effects of these chemicals. It also strives to contribute to the alignment of both the EU’s domestic and international policies, and to improve the EU’s credibility at an international level.
The introduction of the prohibitive initiative has an impact on several other key Regulations including Regulation 1907/2006 on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals (REACH), Regulation 649/2012 on the export and import of hazardous chemicals (the PIC Regulation) and Regulation 2019/1021 on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs Regulation). The initiative is most closely linked to the PIC Regulation, as one of the probable measures of the initiative, involves updating and revising the current PIC Regulation. Some of these potential revisions include making information more readily available to non-EU countries to facilitate more informed decision making, amending the current requirements for export and placing a ban on the production of hazardous chemicals that are not authorised for use in the EU. The REACH Regulation may also be impacted as it currently only addresses the placing of chemicals on the market and their use in the EU. The scope of this Regulation could be impacted if the initiative is introduced.
Prohibiting the production of hazardous chemicals which may no longer be supplied in the EU, but may still be produced and exported to non-EU countries, is linked to the POP Regulation. The POP Regulation concerns Persistent Organic Pollutants which are long lasting organic substances which accumulate both in the environment and in biological organisms. POPs are regulated globally by the Stockholm Convention and Aarhus Protocol. The Regulation is linked to the legislative initiative in question as the impact of these substances is global. Several POPs which have been banned in the EU due to the harmful environmental and human health effects that they cause, are still producing these adverse effects when they are exported to non-EU countries. The exportation of these chemicals is subsequently in opposition to the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability’s ambition for a toxic free environment.
The next steps following the cessation of the consultation period includes the publication of a summary report of the open consultation evaluation on the feedback received during the commenting period followed by the adoption of the initiative into Regulation.
Article Contributor
Lisa Gleichmann – REACH Project Manager