Brussels, 11/01/2005 (Agence Europe) - Three parliamentary committees (environment, internal market and consumer protection, and industry, research and energy) are holding a hearing on 19 January in Brussels on the REACH legislation proposed by the European Commission for the registration, evaluation and authorisation or restriction of chemicals. Karl-Heinz Florenz (CDU), Chair of the relevant Committee on the Environment, notes in a press release that the legislation, more than 1,200 pages long, is the most voluminous legislation proposed to date. He goes on to stress that priority is to reach a level of protection for the environment and health but that the text currently on the table is "so bureaucratic and costly that many companies might fear for their existence" if it were adopted as such. In his view, three criteria will have to be more accurately defined: - consumers' exposure to these products; - potential dangerosity of products; - and quantities produced. Mr Florenz recalls that, according to the European Commission's proposal, the chemicals industry should, over the space of eleven years, examine the impact that some 30,000 chemical products have on the environment. In his view, the potentially dangerous products which could come into contact with consumers should be examined three to five years after REACH comes into force, although longer transition and less costly verification periods are needed for less dangerous products or products which do not leave the factory.