Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-04-10-Speech-4-018"
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"en.20030410.1.4-018"2
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"Madam President, I would like to congratulate the rapporteur on the high quality of his work and on his resolve to reintroduce into the text of the regulation Article 174 of the Treaty on environmental policy. A regulation, in particular in this field, must not be limited to ensuring the free movement of detergents within the internal market. In a word, Article 95 of the Treaty must not take precedence over prudent and rational use of natural resources. That would be to lose all sense of proportion.
The new regulation introduces many benefits. I shall only mention two. The improvement in labelling that guarantees consumers the most specific information possible due to clear, readable labels. The restriction of the use of dangerous substances known as surfactants, which are harmful to the environment as they are hardly biodegradable at all and are dangerous in terms of public health for those who handle these detergents on a daily basis. I am thinking in particular of carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic substances that are known to be harmful.
This report also raises the question of banning animal testing. My position on the subject remains unaltered. I am in favour of banning animal testing, provided, of course, that reliable alternative tests are available, in particular with regard to metabolites. We must avoid repeating the mistake made in revising the directive on cosmetic products, which banned such tests without ensuring that reliable alternative methods exist.
With regard to derogations, the Member States alone must control marketing authorisations. On this point I agree with the rapporteur’s approach. We must also take care not to wrong small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a detergent market dominated by four or five heavyweights, for which this new legislation will not cause any particular problems. On the other hand, SMEs that produce small quantities of specialised detergents, known as industrial and commercial products, operate in a niche market. It will be extremely difficult for these companies to comply with the standards."@en1
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