The European Commission has approved an ambitious plan to register and test for health risks tens of thousands of chemicals used in everything from car paint to clothing. The proposal faces fierce opposition from the European chemicals industry, which is worth more than €60 billion a year and directly employs 1.2 million people.
A number of EU governments, including Ireland's, have expressed concerns about the plan. The leaders of Germany, France and Britain have called for an analysis of its economic impact.
The proposed system, called REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals), requires companies that manufacture or import more than one tonne of a chemical to register it in a central database. Chemicals considered of high concern, such as those that could cause cancer or that persist and build up in the environment or are produced in huge quantities, will undergo a risk assessment.
The most dangerous chemicals will need an authorisation before being used. The Commission insisted yesterday that the plan would cost the industry a maximum of €5.2 billion over the next 10 years.
Announcing the proposal yesterday, the Enterprise Commissioner, Mr Erkki Liikanen, said that it struck the right balance between the needs of industry and the requirement to protect health and the environment.
But business lobby groups in the Republic and abroad raised concerns about the proposals.
The Irish Pharmaceutical and Chemical Manufacturers' Federation said the proposal could seriously threaten inward investment and jobs in the Republic.
Mr Matt Moran, director of the body, said the costs imposed by the proposed regime and the significant delays required for testing the chemicals would hurt Ireland's competitiveness.
He said firms would begin to locate investments in competing locations such as Puerto Rico or Singapore if the plan was adopted.
Sectors that would be most affected by the proposal include the chemical, food, pharmaceutical and technology industries, said Mr Moran.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Tánaiste, Ms Harney - who lobbied strongly against the original proposals - said the Government would study the draft proposals before making any decision on whether to oppose them.
But he said the Government would make its view known at the Council of Ministers.
Despite this criticism, environmental groups complained that the Commission had caved in to the demands of the chemical industry by watering down its original plan and was leaving public health and the environment at risk from dangerous substances.
The proposal must be approved by EU governments and the European Parliament before it comes into force.
