Brussels, 05/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - Although it is guaranteed by European law, consumers' right to be informed of hazardous substances present in consumer products is not being adhered to, states the European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC), commenting on a test it carried out, the results of which were published on Wednesday 5 October.
What is under scrutiny is the right to information guaranteed by the European REACH regulation (registration, evaluation and limited authorisation of chemical products), which allows consumers to ask any economic operator in the sales chain (distributor, producer) if any of its products or packaging contains “substances of very high concern” in concentrations higher than 0.1% mass/mass. Under the regulation, this information must be provided free of charge, within 45 days.
In their attempts to verify whether businesses are aware of their obligation and reply specifically and comprehensibly within the stated deadline, BEUC and the national consumer organisations were disappointed. For 34 categories of products, they sent letters from consumers in nine countries of the EU (Germany, Austria, Denmark, Spain, France, Greece, Poland, the United Kingdom and Sweden) asking whether a specific consumer product contained any of the “substances of very high concern” as identified by REACH. However, of the 25 letters sent in each country, they received just 10 satisfactory responses in Sweden and Austria, nine in Germany, eight in France, seven in the United Kingdom, and just three in Poland and Denmark, one in Greece and none in Spain.
“Hazardous chemicals are present in our homes, but also our blood or breastmilk while consumers have little information on where they are and how to avoid them, despite them being of great potential risk. Along with greater transparency, the intention of the REACH 'Right to Know' was to create pressure on industry to develop safer substitutes. Unfortunately, this right is far from respected. Improvements are urgently needed”, said Monique Goyens, director of BEUC. The results of the study were published on Wednesday at the “How to Eliminate Hazardous Chemicals from Consumer Articles” conference organised by BEUC, ANEC (the European consumer voice in standardisation) and the Consumer Council of the Austrian Standards Institute to assess the effectiveness of the European regulatory framework which is supposed to protect consumers from exposure to hazardous chemicals. They are available at http://docshare.beuc.org/Common/GetFile.asp?ID=41851&mfd=off&LogonName=Guesten (AN/transl.fl)