Bloomberg BNA reported last week on two position papers published by the European Commission on May 14, in which a closer cooperation between the EU and the U.S. regarding the classification and labeling of chemicals is proposed.
EU and U.S. authorities may never be able to reconcile their regulatory schemes for chemicals and cosmetics, but they could cooperate more closely in a number of ways, including how they classify and label chemicals, according to the two position papers.
The EU position papers noted that there is little scope for significantly harmonizing the regulatory regimes of both the EU and the U.S., but the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) offers opportunities for sharing information, scientific cooperation and mutual consultation at early stages in regulatory processes.
The commission said there is “great potential” for the EU and U.S. to align their substance classification and labeling regimes with GHS. The commission paper said that in the U.S., only OSHA has implemented GHS for chemicals used in the workplace, and there is scope for GHS implementation in other areas of U.S. chemicals regulation. Over time, this could lead to harmonized classifications for chemicals, which could “become a good basis for a global list”, the commission paper said.
The paper also said that regulatory authorities could cooperate on prioritization of chemicals for assessment and on scientific research so that, for example, animal tests are not unnecessarily duplicated. The papers also cited the benefits of mutual consultation on emerging issues, such as regulation of endocrine disruptors and nanosubstances. But “neither full harmonization nor mutual recognition [of chemicals regulation] seems feasible” because the EU REACH and U.S. TSCA are “too different”, the commission paper said.
The commission paper on cosmetics also said that TTIP could result in greater scientific collaboration and converging labeling requirements. In addition, the EU and U.S. could recognize each other’s lists of banned and permitted cosmetics ingredients, and could minimize differences in their standards and guidance related to cosmetics manufacturing.
You can find in a single location the top vendors of (M)SDS software and services that help you address your (M)SDS compliance challenges and needs.
.
If you are a subscriber and want to contribute to the blog, or if you have any comments, do not hesitate to e-mail us at blogs@enviralmarkets.com. Please specify the blog that you are writing about.
Photo by openDemocracy via Flickr