UEAPMEappreciated the efforts made by negotiators in order to tweak the regulation on some aspects such aschemical safety assessments, red tape and SME-specific measures. It regretted, however, that thecompromise wording on data sharing and data liberalisation worsens the after-REACH outlook forSME formulators of chemical substances.
“Although certain aspects of the compromise REACH deserve praise, such as the removal of
compulsory and costly chemical safety assessment studies for substances produced in quantities
smaller than ten tonnes, the overall result for SMEs is quite disappointing”, said Guido Lena,
UEAPME Director for Environmental Policy. “As far as data sharing is concerned, for instance,
manufacturers or importers of a chemical substance who do not intend to submit an application for
registration are now just ‘encouraged’ to communicate with downstream users about their intention –
whereas they were actually obliged to do so before the latest compromise. SME formulators will be
disadvantaged by this clause, which prevents them from planning substitution of chemicals in their
production processes in advance”, he continued.
A further shortcoming of the revised regulation lies in the new provisions on cost sharing. In case of
partial disclosure, the determination of the cost sharing method to be used among registering parties is
“proportional” but technical details are left to forthcoming guidelines, with all the uncertainties that
this entails. In case of full disclosure, the principle of “fair” cost sharing according to each party’s
production or import volume is abandoned in favour of “equal” cost sharing, which may price SMEs
out of the market.
UEAPME also expressed concerns over the extension of the deadline for data liberalisation from 10
to 12 years. “Access to test data is fundamental for small businesses. We believe that there were no
sensible reasons for adding two supplementary years of data exclusivity, which may well contribute
to reinforcing the dominant position of multinationals in the chemicals market”, explained Mr Lena.
“Three years of negotiations over REACH have not managed to solve the concerns of SME producers
and downstream users alike. The issues of data sharing and data liberalisation have been sidelined
during the debate, and legal certainty on cost sharing is left to future guidelines. More could have
been done to increase both competitiveness and competition in all business sectors working with
chemicals in Europe”, concluded Mr Lena.
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EDITORS’ NOTE: UEAPME is the employer\'s organisation representing crafts, trades and SMEs from the EU and accession countries at European level. UEAPME has 81 member organisations, which represent crafts and SMEs across Europe, covering over 11 million enterprises with 50 million employees. UEAPME is a European Social Partner.
Further information: Guido Lena, Director for Environmental Policy, Tel. +32 2 230 7599
Francesco Longu, Press and Communications Officer
Email: [email protected] Web: www.ueapme.com/pressroom/