On Monday, June 29th, the Committee on Environment, Public Health, and Food Safety adopted a resolution with 65 votes in favor, 1 against, and 14 abstentions, urging the European Commission to develop a new chemical strategy for sustainability. This strategy aims to effectively ensure a high level of health and environmental protection by minimizing exposure to hazardous chemicals. It emphasizes the need for additional regulatory measures to protect children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and the elderly.
The new chemical strategy must fully reflect the precautionary principle and the “polluter pays” principle, while also ensuring greater transparency during the approval process. Furthermore, it is expected to promote the development of safe and sustainable alternatives in a competitive manner, including a clear commitment to securing research funding.
MEPs believe it is necessary to support the “one substance – one hazard assessment” principle, allowing substances to be reviewed by a single EU agency. This would streamline and harmonize the regulation of these substances. The resolution specifically calls for a comprehensive EU framework on endocrine disruptors (EDCs) to effectively minimize human and environmental exposure. It also suggests incorporating specific provisions into legislation covering toys, food contact materials, and cosmetics to treat EDCs similarly to carcinogens, mutagens, or reproductive toxicants.
In the agri-food sector, the Commission is also urged to improve the EU authorization procedure for pesticides and to accelerate the transition to low-risk pesticides.
Key Points of the Resolution:
- High-Level Protection: Aims to safeguard health and the environment by reducing exposure to hazardous chemicals.
- Vulnerable Groups: Additional regulatory measures to protect children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and the elderly.
- Precautionary Principle: Strategy to fully embody the precautionary and “polluter pays” principles.
- Transparency: Calls for more transparency in the chemical approval process.
- Safe Alternatives: Encourages the development of safe and sustainable chemical alternatives with guaranteed research funding.
- Unified Assessment: Supports the “one substance – one hazard assessment” principle for consistent and efficient regulation.
- Endocrine Disruptors: Proposes a comprehensive EU framework to minimize exposure to EDCs and to treat them as hazardous substances in various regulations.
- Pesticides: Advocates for improved authorization procedures and faster transition to low-risk pesticides.
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