The article in the url link below provides an update on the implementation of the EU legislation REACH (Issues: Research and Development, p130). The legislation presents a distinctly different approach to product safety, in general, and chemicals, in particular, than the current U.S. model. While the burden in the U.S. lies with objectors to prove a chemical is dangerous, the EU legislation requires producers to prove a chemical is safe before it will be approved for use in certain kinds of products:
“The changes come at a time when consumers are increasingly worried about the long-term consequences of chemical exposure and are agitating for more aggressive regulation. In the United States, these pressures have spurred efforts in Congress and some state legislatures to pass laws that would circumvent the laborious federal regulatory process.”
Needless to say, U.S. firms (in particular) are protesting the measures which, they claim, “will add billions to their costs.” In many respects, however, the legislation, which will be phased in over a number of years, is already having its desired effect:
“It is difficult to know exactly how the changes will affect products sold in the United States. But American manufacturers are already searching for safer alternatives to chemicals used to make thousands of consumer goods, from bike helmets to shower curtains.”
The article argues that the legislation represents a fundamentally different philosophical approach between the U.S. and Europe regarding the role of for-profit firms in society:
“From its crackdown on antitrust practices in the computer industry to its rigorous protection of consumer privacy, the European Union has adopted a regulatory philosophy that emphasizes the consumer. Its approach to managing chemical risks, which started with a trickle of individual bans and has swelled into a wave, is part of a European focus on caution when it comes to health and the environment.”
In the U.S., on the other hand:
“… laws in place for three decades have made banning or restricting chemicals extremely difficult. The nation's chemical policy, the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, grandfathered in about 62,000 chemicals then in commercial use. Chemicals developed after the law's passage did not have to be tested for safety. Instead, companies were asked to report toxicity information to the government, which would decide if additional tests were needed. In more than 30 years, the Environmental Protection Agency has required additional studies for about 200 chemicals, a fraction of the 80,000 chemicals that are part of the U.S. market. … The EPA has banned only five chemicals since 1976.”
Take care
Dave
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
Chemical Law Has Global Impact
by Lyndsey Layton, Washington Post
June 12th, 2008
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15092
