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Chemical sector wants a chemical policy covenant

The chemical industry fully endorses the European Union’s plans to minimise the risks posed by the use of chemicals. However, the Netherlands should not get too far ahead of the rest of Europe. Earlier this month the Dutch Chemical Industry Association (VNCI) was shocked when the Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, Mr Jan Pronk, banned the FR-728 fire retardant. The Broomchemie chemical company, in Terneuzen, may not start production of the chemical. This would appear to be a foretaste of the situation that will confront the chemical sector on the implementation of what is referred to as the ‘SOMS’ programme, the Strategie Omgaan Met Stoffen (Approach to Chemicals Strategy). The objective of SOMS is to reduce the risks posed by chemicals used in industry and consumer products to virtually zero within one generation. The Government’s plans are the Dutch variant of a comparable initiative taken by the European Union. Last year the European Commission presented its plans to assess the risks posed by chemicals and then control those risks in what is referred to as a ‘white book’. These plans have since been discussed by the Europeans Parliament, which has returned the white book to the Commission together with a series of amendments. The European Commission now needs to respond to these amendments, and this may take some time; the European regulations will not be implemented for one or two years. However, the Netherlands – with the Minister responsible for the environment, Mr Pronk, in the vanguard – wants faster results. Towards the end of this year the chemical sector shall need to have completed a rapid analysis of all chemicals to draw up ‘chemical profiles’. A chemicals agency will then use these profiles to classify each chemical in one of four risk categories – quite some task, because 30,000 chemicals are involved.

Source: Financieel Dagblad