As outlined in detail in this month's Chemical Watch Business Briefing (CW Briefing February 2011), the Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL) is calling for a stand-alone regulation for the registration of nanomaterials in the EU, which would be aligned with REACH.
In a study published this week, CIEL says REACH is failing to identify or control nanomaterials on the EU market, but that renegotiating REACH is “politically impossible and could invite further weakening of the current Regulation. Others have suggested changes to the technical guidance, but the study shows that these so-called solutions fall short of bridging the existing legal gaps.”
Managing attorney David Azoulay says REACH “could prove a useful instrument to better understand and regulate nanomaterials, provided it is coupled with a nano 'patch' that closes these inherent loopholes." Such a Regulation, says CIEL, “would establish clear, legally binding provisions for nanomaterials and create a transparent and predictable legal environment for the safe production and use of nanomaterials in the EU”.
Fonte: Chemical Watch
