EU REACH
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals regulation likely will be considered by the European Parliament for final approval by fall 2006, European Commission reports in release announcing agreement by the European Council. "The formal Common Position of the Council should be approved under the Austrian Presidency in May 2006, a step that will pave the way for the second reading of the proposal by the European Parliament," commission notes. Parliament approved first reading of the proposal last month. REACH, which will replace 40 existing regs, requires manufacturers or importers of more than one ton per year of a chemical substance to register with a future European Chemicals Agency and provide safety data. Commission "expects entry into force of the Regulation for spring 2007," release states, adding "thereafter it will take about a year for the REACH Agency to be operational"...