...Tripartite talks broke down on 27 November 2006 after Germany and other member states refused to budge on the REACH draft regulation, said Parliament's chief negotiator Guido Sacconi.... more...

...Failure to resolve a dispute about rules for substituting chemicals in products could delay the REACH regulations that are due to become law in April... more...

...Industry is stepping up research amid scientists' concerns that the EU’s draft REACH regulation is not doing enough to protect humans against endocrine disrupters and other toxic chemicals.... more...

...As the EU’s draft REACH law on chemical safety reaches the European Parliament for a second reading on 12 December, greens and industry are still at loggerheads and tensions are fast resurfacing.... more...

...The promise of a new chemicals regulation for Europe is hanging in the balance today, as European governments waiver in their determination to stand up to the large chemical companies which are intent on undermining its impact.... more...

...The Packaging Federation (PF) is to work with the chemicals industry to set out guidance documents on the impact of the forthcoming European Union hazardous chemicals regulations.... more...

...Ministers are sabotaging laws to control toxic chemicals despite fears that they are causing a "silent epidemic" of brain disorders in British children, a leaked document shows. The document reveals how, after pressure from the Bush administration, the Government has successfully led opposition to a Europe-wide measure that would make companies use safe chemicals when they work just as well as poisonous ones. It sets out a British proposal to emasculate the law that was accepted last year by all European Union governments.... more...

...Today, the Common position (EC) No 17/2006 adopted by the Council with a view to adopting a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, has been published in the Official Journal of EU (2006/C 276 E/01).... more...

...Europe and Japan have banned an increasing number of chemicals used in everyday products. The U.S. hasn't followed suit, so those products are ending up on our store shelves. Sarah Gardner reports.... more...

...The Partners of the Social Dialogue within the Chemical Industry, the European Mine, Chemicals and Energy Workers Federation (EMCEF) and the European Chemical Employers Group (ECEG) - member of the Cefic family (European Chemical Industry Council) - have agreed a joint position on REACH, the new EU chemicals legislation process, at a conference in Cracow (Poland).... more...

...This month the people of Milton Keynes are one step closer to being fully protected against the effects of harmful chemicals as the Environment committee in the European Parliament voted on new chemicals legislation known as REACH (registration, evaluation and authorisation).... more...

...Leading medical journal 'The Lancet' calls for the EU's draft REACH regulation to protect unborn children against possible brain-development disorders caused by industrial chemicals.... more...

...One of the most influential medical journals, The Lancet, has weighed into the European REACH chemicals debate, which is at near boiling point as the draft legislation approaches its final approval date in December... more...

...Environment-focused initiatives like EuP (the Energy-using Products directive), Reach (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals) and other regulations coming primarily out of Europe make it abundantly clear that the electronics industry is by no means viewed as "green" yet.... more...

...In terms of paradigm-shifting legislation, the early money is on a package of bills being prepared by Senator Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, that would change how the chemical industry is regulated. Simitian chairs the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. Simitian said that he and his staff still are working out many of the particulars of their "green chemistry" legislation. However, he did say that it would likely rely on the "precautionary principle." This standard, widely cited in the global-warming debate, states that if an action has a significant potential to cause widespread harm, the burden is on producers to show that it is safe, rather than on critics to prove that it is harmful.... more...

...Guido Sacconi is relieved REACH is entering the final stages of its long legislative process. As REACH awaits its second reading in parliament, Guido Sacconi is penning the final chapter of his book. His political tome charts the chemical legislation's passage through the European parliament and is thus unlikely to top next year's list of sizzling-hot summer reads.... more...