Concern at proposals for regulating chemicals

The government has launched a consultation on the new European Union chemicals strategy.

Last October the European Commission adopted proposals that will establish a new system - REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restrictions of Chemicals) - to regulate the manufacture, import and use of substances. The new regime will also create a European Chemicals Agency and amend the current legislation.

The TUC submission to the consultation aims to ensure that the new directive will protect workers from exposure to dangerous chemicals, but will not threaten chemical workers' jobs or lead to the export of risk to workers in developing countries.

However, some campaigners are concerned that REACH will still leave thousands of chemicals untested. Mick Holder from the London Hazards Centre argues that, under existing UK law, all chemicals in use should already have been tested - and that REACH would not be necessary if firms had been prosecuted for not testing them.

The closing date for responses is 25 June 2004. Details of the consultation are on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website at www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/reach/index.htm