In a judgement delivered on Friday 20 September (Case T-637/16), the General Court of the European Union dismissed a second appeal brought by PlasticsEurope challenging a July 2017 decision of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) that the substance bisphenol A has endocrine disrupting properties that might have serious effects on human health.
PlasticsEurope, an association that represents the interests of manufacturers and importers of plastic products in the European Union—including four companies active in the marketing of bisphenol A—set forth several arguments: - ECHA infringed the principle of legal certainty, specifically by failing to establish clear and precise criteria for assessing endocrine disrupters; - the European Agency committed a manifest error of assessment and a breach of its duty of care; - PlasticsEurope also criticised ECHA for not waiting for the publication of the results of the Clarity-BPA programme regarding an investigation into the properties of bisphenol A.
In its judgment, the General Court rejected all arguments put forward by PlasticsEurope. At no moment, it believes, did ECHA indicate, in the form of precise and unconditional assurance, that the decision to identify bisphenol A as an endocrine disruptor would be based on taking into account a specific level of concentration of this substance in mixtures or items.
In respect of the argument that bisphenol A would be exempt from the Regulation (1907/2006) governing the authorisation of chemical substances, since it is mainly used as an intermediary substance, the General Court responded that the contested decision does not distinguish between the different types of usage for which it can be employed.
In a first judgment in July (Case T-185/17), the European judge had already refuted the industry's argument regarding the type of use of bisphenol A, arguing that it was the intrinsic properties of the substance, and not its use, that led to its inclusion on the list of substances of very high concern (see EUROPE 12294/19).
See the ruling: http://bit.ly/2kn0fJE (Original in French by Mathieu Bion)