A new chemicals policy in Europe – new opportunities for

0,39

MB

industry.

30

stron

4374

ID

World Wildlife Fund International

2003

rok

Table of Contents

1 Executive Summary3

2 Introduction5

3 A new Chemicals Policy in the EU - REACH6

4 Costs vs benefits 8

4.1 Cost – the estimates . 8

4.2 Costs - are the assessments accurate? . 9

4.3 Benefits – for industry . 10

4.4 Benefits – for human health and the environment 12

5 Responses to industry claims and concerns 14

5.1 “The chemical industry will be forced to leave the EU”. 14

5.2 “The regulatory system is better in the USA” 15

5.3 “REACH will create barriers to trade” 16

5.4 Concerns of downstream companies . 18

5.5 Testing costs: “Re-testing on 12.8 million animals” 20

5.6 An uneven distribution of implementation costs will put a particular burden on SMEs 22

5.7 “The chemical industry is taking responsibility through ‘Responsible Care’” 22

6 Conclusions.26

6.1 The need for positive engagement from industry . 26

6.2 A new market in safer chemicals and products 27

7 References .28