Brussels, 02/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is considering amending Community legislation on detergents in view of rendering stricter the standards for the protection of human health and the environment. To carry out that task, it would like to gather the points of views of all interested parties on a working paper that it has just drawn up and placed at the public's disposal on its Internet site. Open to on-line comments, this document, prepared by the Industry Directorate General, suggests amending the existing legislative arsenal relating to the biodegradability of surface-active agents, substances that go into the manufacturing of detergents and cause the foam in water piping.
Concerned here are Directives 73/404/EEC, 73/405/EEC, 82/242/EEC, 82/243/EEC, 86/94/EEC and Recommendation 89/52 of the Commission concerning the labelling of detergent and cleaning products, which has as goal to ensure a genuine internal market for these products, while guaranteeing a high level of aquatic environmental protection. New provisions would aim to perfect the mechanism by imposing: a) the biodegradability control of products; b) obligation to provide consumers with information on the content in detergents and cleaning products; c) new labelling measures for substances and preparations that could cause allergies (the document and ways of consultation may be obtained at: http: //europe.eu.int/ comm/entreprise/chemicals/index.htm, or http: //europa.eu.int/comm/entreprise/consultations/index/htm).