Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-09-03-Speech-3-010"
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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would first like to congratulate Mrs Sartori, our rapporteur, and the shadow rapporteurs from the other groups. I think the work we have done, though not easy with a text of 2 000 pages, has brought real progress.
Since it is a global system, it is important that the future regulation does not introduce constraints on European firms that do not apply to their international competitors. It would be desirable for the proposal to be consistent with REACH as regards both timeframes and a tonnage-based approach, and where the annexes are concerned, not least Annex VI.
As regards the information affixed to finished products, given that the European Commission has chosen to include post-manufacturing, the guiding principle has to be the quality and relevance of information and not the quantity. Our group felt it was important to recognise the existence and value of other sources of information, particularly NGOs and industry, but also the importance of tools for communication such as the internet. The confidentiality of some information must also be protected. Lastly, this legislation must not generate an increase in animal testing.
Because of the tight schedule, but also the complexity of the annexes, I recall that MEPs decided not to amend them. The aim of this was also to facilitate the negotiations. This was a major concession by Parliament. However, we have noticed in this case that one of these annexes raises a serious problem of immediate conformity and implementation for the industries concerned.
Annex VI is a list of substances with harmonised classifications at European level. A similar list already exists, however, and the industry uses this existing list to classify and label mixtures. But when the transfer took place, modifications were made to this list and it will have to be applied as soon the GHS comes into force, though in the case of technical adaptations, the timeframe for this is at least 18 months.
Many SMEs are concerned about this change. It is essential that we reach agreement in the first reading with the Council, and stop publishing provisions as soon as possible to give the industry and users time to adapt to the new system and make it operational by the end of 2008.
Consequently, I am asking the Commission to put forward a solution that gives the industry sufficient time to bring itself into conformity with the regulation’s requirements, without having a disproportionate impact.
Following the trialogue, apart from the problem with the Annex, the text being put to the vote seems like a good one to me. I would just like to highlight a few salient points. We have talked a great deal about PBTs. They are not covered by the United Nations GHS. Parliament has secured agreement from the European Commission to push for their classification at United Nations level. Parliament has also secured the removal of the division of the ‘eye irritation’ category into sub-categories, which would undoubtedly have led to an increase in the number of tests on animals without adding any real value. We can also report that tests on humans for the sole purpose of this regulation are banned, and that the UN’s GHS is a dynamic process; a mechanism has been found to enable changes to the UN GHS to be taken into account by the European GHS. Confidentiality is protected in a balanced way.
Consistency with REACH is guaranteed and Parliament has accepted a zero threshold for inventory and notification, though originally we wanted a threshold of one tonne for certain categories of products. This zero threshold was accepted because substances and mixtures exclusively for R&D purposes are excluded from the scope of application.
I think we have done a good job and I am hoping for a good vote and for the GHS to be applied properly.
I will speak first of all on behalf of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, for which I was draftsman of the opinion, and then I will speak on behalf of my political group.
The Committee on Industry has adopted various amendments, and I am briefly going to mention the main ones.
The situation of SMEs had to be taken into account: they expressed their interest in this matter during the preparatory consultation by the Commission. Out of 360 companies, 45%, employing fewer than 250 employees, responded to this online consultation held by the Commission between 21 August and 21 October 2006.
Our Committee was keen to highlight the fact that apart from providing necessary information, the purpose of the GHS is also the protection of consumers and the environment. Our Committee called upon the Member States to introduce a procedure that helps all suppliers, particularly SMEs, in certain sectors of production, to determine the correct classification, labelling and packaging of these substances and mixtures.
Our Committee was also keen on consistency with REACH and therefore tabled amendments concerning tonnage.
Lastly, out of more than just a desire to avoid the duplication of legislation on packaging, our Committee wanted to anticipate the possibility of disputes over the interpretation of the Regulation’s requirements, in this case between the supplier and a Member State and the need for a procedure to ensure classification is harmonised.
I now come to my role as shadow rapporteur for the ALDE, and will outline some of the guiding principles of our approach.
Of course we welcome this initiative. A global approach is totally consistent with the objective of protecting health and the environment more effectively while allowing for trade in products."@en1
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