European Voice, Vol. 10 No. 13 : 15 April 2004
From Joseph H. Guth In ?Wallstr?m and Co. unmoved by opposition to REACH plan", (European Voice, 1-14 April), Karen Carstens reports that the European Commission has not been intimidated by US opposition to a proposed overhaul of chemicals policy known as REACH.

One would think that when reform of an industrial policy affecting the global chemicals industry ? which the Commission estimates generates $1.7 trillion dollars (?1.4tr) in annual sales ? is at stake, US views should be heeded. However, the US position cannot be understood as the position of the American people, and the Commission is right to ignore it.

The George W. Bush administration did not consult public health authorities, NGOs or even wider business interests that would gain from new rules promoting greater innovation of safer chemicals. In contrast, and to its credit, the Commission developed REACH through just such broad-based consultations and this gives credibility on this important industrial policy.

The apparent gulf between the US and Europe on chemicals policy reflects not deep transatlantic differences in social perceptions of the benefits and risks of chemicals, but rather the use of strikingly different political processes to generate policy.

A City of San Francisco resolution concludes that REACH would benefit Americans by promoting a safer global chemicals industry. San Francisco, like the EU, has also adopted the precautionary principle as environmental policy. If the EU is concerned with what the US thinks about REACH, it should pay attention to diverse American voices, even though the Bush administration has chosen to ignore them.

Joseph H. Guth
Senior policy analyst
Center for Environmental Health
Oakland, California