On Monday 8 May the European Commission launched a call for evidence and a 12-week public consultation to prepare a regulation to ban the production for export of certain chemicals banned in the EU because of their hazardous properties and/or unacceptable risks to human health or the environment.
This legislative initiative is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2023 to better protect public health and the environment in third countries. It will thus meet a requirement of the EU’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability of October 2020, which promotes the safe and sustainable management of chemicals on a global scale (see EUROPE 12580/16). This will enhance the EU’s credibility at international level, the Commission stresses.
Several options are being considered to introduce this prohibition mechanism:
- the revision of the PIC Regulation [(EU) No 649/2012] on the prior informed consent procedure for third countries, with a view to increasing the amount of information made available to third countries;
- the revision of the export requirements of this regulation to provide a higher level of protection against unwanted imports;
- a ban on the production of hazardous chemicals that are not approved or are banned from being placed on the market and/or used in the EU;
- an approach combining these various options.
An impact assessment of this future measure, notably on European producers and customs, will be carried out by October.
The total amount of exported chemicals that are subject to the PIC Regulation (without necessarily being banned in the EU) amounted to some 667,000 tonnes in 2020, according to information provided by Member States.
The Commission is seeking contributions from all stakeholders and interested citizens until midnight Brussels time on 31 July.
To access the online public consultation: https://aeur.eu/f/6s3 (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)