The European Union has reportedly reached agreement on a new chemicals law. Reuters News Agency quoted an anonymous Finnish source from the talks on Thursday night.
Earlier in the week there had been fears that the passage of the Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) law might be delayed by several months.
The Finnish official told Reuters that the agreement is ready, pending final approval by the member states and legislators.
The chemical issue has been the subject of difficult negotiations among EU Presidency-holder Finland, the European Parliament, and the European Commission. The most recent attempt at an agreement failed late Monday evening.
Securing passage of chemicals legislation is an especially important goal for Finland during its present turn at the Presidency, because it will make it possible to set up the EU’s Chemical Authority, which is to be situated in the Helsinki region.
The aim of the proposed legislation is to establish a registry for about 30,000 chemicals.
