Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-11-13-Speech-2-349"
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"en.20011113.13.2-349"2
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"Mr President, we need to be clear that chemicals can be good for you. You only have to look around this chamber at the carpets, chairs, desks, paint, steel and glass to see how much we depend on them. However they can also be bad for you. Some insecticides, flame retardants and even hair sprays can be a danger and we need to be wary of them. Chemicals can certainly present a risk if they are mishandled and they can need regulation. Sometimes they need to be phased out or banned.
However, I fear this report goes too far too fast and so, in some respects, does the White Paper. I know it is only the White Paper stage, but we need to look carefully at some of the potential costs, said to be some EUR 8bn to European industry. A massive cost to animals has been referred to. The BUAV estimates 2 123 animals per high production volume chemical test. We are told that 12.8 million would be at risk if one were testing on 30 000 substances and the report goes up to 100 000. Of course not all those would need animal tests, but a substantial number would.
One other example of how this report overreacts: paragraph 38 sweeps up all CMR category 3 substances and designates them of very high concern. Just take one example from one industry, the raw materials for flexible foam. The finished product is in no way a hazard and provides comfort and safety for consumers in products from furniture to car dashboards. That is an industry employing 360 000 people, 96% of them in small- and medium-sized firms. They could be at risk.
The aims of the White Paper are right: we want to improve knowledge about chemicals and we want a safer world. We should prioritise areas for action. That means rigorous management of risk, without damaging unnecessarily the many small- and medium-sized firms that make up the chemical industry which has its risks but also brings jobs, benefits and safety for our citizens."@en1
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