REACH
ECHA publishes list of notifications of hazardous substances in articles
ECHA has just published a summary of the 203 notifications of hazardous substances in articles it has received so far. Most of the notifications relate to 5 chemicals, one of them being boric acid. Producers and importers must notify ECHA if their goods contain a substance of very high concern (SVHC) from the REACH candidate list in a concentration above 0.1% and if the total amount of the substance in their goods each year exceeds one tonne.
Moreover, ECHA has published the first Community rolling action plan (CoRAP) containing 90 substances that the Member States will evaluate by 2014 under the substance evaluation process of the REACH Regulation. Substance evaluation is the process under REACH that allows for the clarification of risks. Following the evaluation, further information may be requested from the registrants of the substances when additional data is considered necessary to clarify the suspected risk. In 2012, 17 Member States will be responsible for the evaluation of 36 substances, and more substances are expected to be evaluated in coming years. Once these substances are evaluated, Member States will prepare a decision requesting the registrant(s) to submit further information to clarify any possible risk, if required. However, it will be up to ECHA or the European Commission to take the final decision on whether more information is needed. As for other evaluation decisions, registrants of the substances listed on the CoRAP will have opportunities to comment before any final decision is taken.
Links: The list of substances can be found at: http://echa.europa.eu/web/guest/information-on-chemicals/candidate-list-substances-in-articles-table
The CoRAP substance list is available at: http://echa.europa.eu/documents/10162/17221/corap_2012_en.pdf
Cefic warns against ECHA taking "political" lead
The European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) has warned that ECHA should not take political leadership away from the Commission, despite the little resources the latter has to deal with REACH. According to Cefic representatives, the Commission should consider staff issues under the REACH review because "only a "limited number” of agency staff have an industry background and most have "little understanding of industrial reality”. Cefic is concerned that whilst ECHA is growing, the number of experts within Member States and the Commission is decreasing, and this could potentially lead in the future to decisions being taken within ECHA instead of in Brussels. Moreover Cefic representatives have indicated that the questions of the costs of REACH or its effects on competitiveness cannot be assessed yet, as the costs and benefits will become clearer in the coming years. The Commission has also warned that at the moment it is difficult to separate the impact of REACH from the broader economic situation.
AUTOMOTIVE
CARS 21 Updateon 26 January, CARS 21 working group on "Internal market, emissions and CO2 policies” gathered to discuss about the integrated approach for vehicles CO2 reduction. CARS 21 members presented the different environmental reductions means/technologies that could be included within this frame. The discussion was general and not focused on a specific technology, although stakeholders requested concrete policy actions to encourage CO2 emission reductions. These actions should be based on the technology neutral principle and take account of all automotive segments.
At the last meeting of CARS 21 stakeholders discussed the issue of electro-mobility. During group discussions, it became clear that France is the most interested in pushing forward on the development of Electric Vehicles (EVs), followed by Germany. However, some stakeholders, led by Poland, demanded the preparation of life cycle analysis to assess the environmental impact of EVs given the different energy mixes currently in use across Europe. Although the Commission is still promoting EVs, it has become more careful in its approach and it is now promoting the technologies which in "equal performance” would be more environmentally-friendly. Most stakeholders have advocated for technology neutrality given that EVs are not –at the moment– carbon neutral, hence the EU cannot pick a winning technology.
A public hearing will take place early April 2012. The process is expected to end in June 2012 with the report presented by the summer. The conclusions reached by the CARS 21 working groups, and the consultation on CARS 21, will feed in the final recommendation. One of UEIL members has integrated the CARS 21 group and has been exchanging with the Secretariat on the outcomes of the meetings. UEIL shall continue to monitor the developments in this field and feed-in the discussions whenever appropriate.
ENVIRONMENT
Parliament votes on requirements on sulphur limits in marine fuelsOn 17 February, the European Parliament Environment Committee adopted, by a narrow majority, a new legislative proposal aimed at reducing sulphur pollution from ships. MEPs agreed that the EU should go beyond the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) requirements on sulphur limits for environmental and health reasons. The main features of the proposal reached today are:
• The proposed maximum limits for sulphur content of marine fuels will be lowered to 0.1% in the designated sulphur emission control areas (SECA) from 2015. In Europe, this concerns the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the English Channel.
• In other marine areas, the fall will be from 3.5% (as of 1 January 2012) to 0.5% by 2015 and 0.1% by 2020.
• A 0.5% sulphur limit is introduced to all EU seas outside sulphur control areas by 2015 and 0.1% by 2020 and to extend the 0.1% limit to territorial seas of Member States (i.e. 12 nautical miles from the coast) from 2015.
• The Commission proposal to extend the 0.1% limit to passenger ships outside the sulphur control areas from 2020 was maintained.
Shipping operators will have to comply with the stricter limits by shifting to low-sulphur fuel or by installing emission abatement equipment, such as scrubbers. If implemented, such measures would require modifications in the composition of lubricants (lubricating oil grades) used in the shipping sector. The draft proposal as approved today by the European Parliament’s Environment Committee requires the support of the full EU Parliament – which will vote on this legislative proposal in May– as well as the support of Member States.
Several Member States have raised concerns on the provisions of this draft relating to distortions of competition, since other non-EU countries will not apply the same rules and therefore any SECAs enlargement should only be done within the framework of the IMO. Furthermore, there are also concerns relating to the availability of low sulphur fuels from the date of entry into force of the Directive. Therefore, it is unlikely that the Parliament and the Council reach a quick agreement on this issue. UEIL will continue monitoring this issue.
TRADE
EU-India trade deal makes progressThe EU and Indian have made "substantial progress" towards a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) have been taking place since 2008 with little success amid a number of industrial tariffs and market access issues. As part of the negotiations, India and the EU have to agree on the products, which will benefits from the Generalised System of Preferences. This system will provide both parties with lower duties and taxes for the import and export of the defined products. One of the main stumbling blocks relates to Europe’s demands for a reduction of tariffs on cars, amongst other things. Car manufacturers in India are concerned about the inclusion of finished cars (called Completely Built Units or CBUs), and are strongly opposed to any lowering of customs duties on CBUs under the proposed agreement. There is a strong fear in the domestic automobile industry that lower tariffs will prompt European car manufacturers to import finished vehicles instead of assembling them in India, which could hinder future investments in the domestic automobile industry. The proposed FTA, which the Commission aims to include in autumn 2012, would cut import duties on over 90% of all tradable goods during the next 10-year period and scale up bilateral trade in goods and services to over €150 billion by 2013.