Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-07-05-Speech-3-189"
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"en.20000705.6.3-189"2
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"Mr President, there are two reasons for this report on phthalates in toys: firstly, these substances are a health risk to young children, and secondly several Member States have already adopted their own laws in this area, which is why this report is aimed at reestablishing the common market for toys. When we deal with issues relating to the health of young children, the commitment is often strong, wholehearted and sincere.
According to experts in the World Health Organisation, it is not possible to prove that phthalates are carcinogens. However, the WHO thinks that phthalates may cause reproductive damage and hormonal disturbances, mainly amongst young children who are exposed to large amounts of phthalates.
For scientific reasons, phthalates have, in common with other toxic substances, been assigned limit values which give the highest recommended exposure level based on calculated risk levels. I want to emphasise that this handling of phthalates does not deviate from toxicological routine.
The Commission’s Scientific Committee on Toxicity, Ecotoxicity and the Environment has evaluated the risks posed by a number of phthalates and has thereby unanimously established that the two phthalates that are far and away the most common in toys and articles used in childcare are in danger of causing the limit values to be exceeded in the case of young children and of causing health problems. In this scientific assessment, it is a concern for
children’s health that is being expressed. These are children who are at the teething stage, which is a time when they often bite and suck on all sorts of objects. I would like to caution Parliament against making decisions that go far beyond what is justified by the scientific basis for this standpoint.
I am all in favour of information and informed consumers who can make their own choices, but the labelling that has been proposed by the Commission does not provide information but, rather, a sharp warning. People who read this warning will not buy these toys for their children or grandchildren. In this way, the warning will constitute an indirect ban. In addition, the process of labelling toys is expensive and difficult to carry out in practice. Tradesmen and tradesmen's organisations have informed me that staff in shops have neither the time nor the knowledge to answer all the questions that customers are going to ask. Introducing this warning system on toys designed for older children is likely to be tantamount to an extended ban.
The Scientific Committee has identified two phthalates used in toys that may be hazardous to young children’s health. A decision in favour of a limited ban on these grounds would not primarily be based on the precautionary principle, but on the routine procedure for dealing with toxic chemical substances. To ban all of the 350 or so currently known phthalates is to proceed on the assumption that all phthalates are associated with more or less the same risks. However, there is no scientific basis for this assumption. Once these phthalates are no longer used in toys, further risk assessments and the proposed review of this directive in two years’ time ought to be sufficient.
In this short presentation of the document, I wanted to stress the fact that decisions ought to be based on scientific grounds and should cover the high-risk group that has been identified, i.e. young children, as well as the fact that the labelling of toys is very difficult to implement. There is still no scientifically approved method for migration tests which could partly replace the proposed legislation, and no such method should therefore be alluded to in the legislative text. Speakers will also put forward their own assessments of the scientific basis. Allow me to anticipate these and state that politicians ought to listen to scientific assessments and conclusions and
try to make their own assessments of the scientific research material.
It is my hope that this report and tomorrow's decision will make the world a safer place for young children."@en1
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