PRESS RELEASE

July 8 2003

EUROPEAN CITIZENS SAY PROTECT US FROM HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS

Today an impressive coalition of European environmental, consumer, health, and womens groups presented Europes most widely supported submission to the European Commissions consultation on future chemicals law. The submission was presented to European Commissioner Wallstrom by a coalition of the European Consumers Organisation, European Environmental Bureau, European Public Health Alliance, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Women in Europe for a Common Future, and WWF in the last week of the consultation on the draft directive on the proposed REACH legislation.

The Declaration for a Toxics Free Future, signed by over 22,000 people as well as a wide-ranging collection of public interest organisations, calls on the European Commission to protect health and the environment from hazardous chemicals. In addition to the coalition of groups presenting the Declaration, it was also supported by organisations including the Netherlands Council of Women, the German Childbirth Association, and the British Allergy Foundation. The coalition presented the Declaration to Commissioner Wallstrom with the demand that the Commission listen to the people and accept their submission as part of the ongoing Internet consultation on the draft legislation, ending on July 10. The Declaration asks the European Commission to ensure that its new REACH legislation on chemicals includes

·         an obligation to phase out and substitute chemicals that accumulate in wildlife, humans or the environment, and those that disrupt hormones.

·         Restricted uses of such chemicals should only be permitted temporarily, if safer alternatives are not available, and the use is essential to society;

·         a full right to know, for both consumers and businesses, including  what chemicals are present in products;

·          a requirement that products imported into the EU have to conform to the same safety standards as those made in the EU.

The widespread contamination of people and wildlife with man-made chemicals is well documented: 300 man-made chemicals have been found in the bodies of people with no special exposure to chemicals; and many man-made chemicals have been founded in house dust and rainwater. A recent report by eminent UK scientists [1] confirmed the need for a

fundamental reform of chemicals policy, with one of its authors stating Given our understanding of the way chemicals interact with the environment, you could say we are running a gigantic experiment with humans and all other living things as the subject. This report also endorsed the importance of substituting the worst chemicals with safer alternatives.

In addition to the 22,000 citizens calling for strong EU legislation on chemicals, a separate declaration in favour of REACH has been submitted by over 60 US organisations (including the Communications Workers of America and The Breast Cancer Fund) and signed by more than 10,000 US citizens. In order to make REACH work for civil society, European

Environmental Bureau, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and WWF are also submitting detailed joint comments to the Commissions consultation which ends on July 10.

1. ‘Chemicals in products. Safeguarding human health and the Environment’, UK Royal Commission on Environment and Pollution, June 2003. http://www.rcep.org.uk/chemicals.html

Further information

Stefan Scheuer

European Environmental Bureau

Tel: +32 2 2891304

Stefan.scheuer@eeb.org

Dr A. Michael Warhurst

WWF European Policy Office

Tel: +32 2 740 0926

mwarhurst@wwfepo.org

Jorgo Iwasaki-Riss / Helen Perivier

Greenpeace International, European Unit

Tel: +32 2 274 1907/ +32 2 274 1901

Jorgo.riss@diala.greenpeace.org

Helen.perivier@diala.greenpeace.org

Mary Taylor

Friends of the Earth,

Tel: + 44 20 7566 1649

maryt@foe.co.uk

Patricia Cameron

BUND (Friends of the Earth Germany),

Tel: +49 175 5963816,

patricia.cameron@bund.net

 (or +49 171 3578233, Uwe Schneidewind) Genon Jensen

European Public Health Alliance

Tel: +32 2 230 3056

genon@epha.org

Sylvia Altamira

Women in Europe for a Common Future

Tel +31 30 23 10 300

sylvia@wecf.org

Charlotte de Roo

The European Consumers Organisation

Tel: +32 2 743 1593

environment@beuc.org

WWF UKs Chemicals and Health campaign:

http://www.wwf.org.uk/chemicals/

EEB Chemicals web site:

http://www.eeb.org/activities/chemicals/main.htm

Friends of the Earths Safer Chemicals Campaign:

http://www.foe.co.uk/saferchemicals

Greenpeace Chemicals Campaign and Consuming Chemicals, a report on

hazardous chemicals in house dust

 http://www.greenpeace.org/chemicals

WWFs EU chemicals web site (includes introductory briefing):

http://www.panda.org/epo/toxics

EEB, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace coalition multi lingual website on

the legislation

http://www.chemicalreaction.org/

European Public Health Alliance http://www.epha.org/

Women in Europe for a common future http://www.antenna.nl/wecf/WECF.html

BEUC, the European Consumers' Organisation http://www.beuc.org

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OUR DEMANDS FOR A TOXICS-FREE FUTURE

We, the undersigned, 429 organisations and 22,464 citizens around the world, from Australia to Zaire, wish to ensure that our health and that of the environment will be properly protected from hazardous chemicals. We therefore ask the European Commission to ensure that the new chemicals legislation enforces:

·         an obligation to phase out chemicals that accumulate in wildlife,  humans or the environment, and those that disrupt hormones. Restricted  uses of such chemicals should only be permitted temporarily, if safer alternatives are not available, and the use is essential to society;

·         a full right to know, for both consumers and businesses, including  what chemicals are present in products; and

·         a requirement that products imported into the EU have to conform to  the same safety standards as those made in the EU.

The draft legislation does not implement these three points. We consider that the new system will not be workable, and will not effectively protect future generations, unless these measures are taken.

Please take this declaration as our submission to the Commission's consultation on the workability of the chemicals legislation.

John Hontelez, European Environmental Bureau, Secretary General

 Martin Rocholl, Friends of the Earth Europe, Director

 Helen Perivier, Greenpeace International, European Toxic Coordinator

 Tony Long WWF, European Policy Office, Director

 Charlotte de Roo, The European Consumers Organisation, Environment,  Safety and Health Policy Adviser

 Genon K. Jensen, European Public Health Alliance, Policy Director

 Marie Kranendonk, Women in Europe for a Common Future, Director