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EU will review legislation with regards to nanotechnologies

Published: Saturday 17 October 2009

During a Stakeholder Conference: Nanomaterials on the Market - What Regulators Need to Know (held on the 9th October 2009 in Brussels), Stavros Dimas, European Commissioner for the environment, announced that the European Commission ‘will review all relevant legislation within two years to ensure safety for all applications of nanomaterials in products with potential health, environmental or safety impacts over their life cycle.’

The announcement was made in response to demands made by the European Parliament in its Own Initiative Report (published in April 2009), in which the Parliament ‘questions whether our legislation covers the relevant risks relating to nanomaterials in the absence of any specific nano-provisions or appropriate data and methods to assess the risks. Consequently, it has invited the Commission to consider whether regulatory change is necessary to address risks in relation to nanomaterials in an appropriate way. It considers particularly important to address nanomaterials explicitly within the scope of legislation on chemicals, food, waste, air and water and worker protection.’

On the topic of voluntary and/or mandatory reporting schemes of nanomaterials, the Commissioner noted that ‘[t]he Commission has not made up its mind on how precisely to get the information needed.’ Gustaaf Borchardt (DG ENV) added that the Commission had ‘no plans to introduce an additional [to REACH requirements] reporting scheme. [...] any efforts to gather information on nanomaterials should consider the internal market and should ideally be aligned and coordinated.’

Follow these links to read the full speech delivered by Stavros Dimas, or to find out more about the stakeholder conference.

 
Related Links:
Meeting Reports (by the NIA Delegate):
9th October 2009: Stakeholder Conference: Nanomaterials on the Market - What Regulators Need to Know
(Brussels, 9th October 2009)
 
EXCLUSIVE Documents now available on the NIA Website
Meeting Reports (by the NIA Delegate):
10th September 2009:  Scientific Hearing on Risk Assessment of Nanotechnologies 
(Conference centre A, Borschette, Rue Froissart 36, 1040 Brussels 10th September 2009)  
 
According to an article published by the Meridian Institute, The Bureau of National Affairs' (BNA) Daily Environment Report and reproduced by Meridian Nanotechnology and Development News, the European Union is reconsidering the way its REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals) legislation applies to substances at the nanoscale. (3rd June 2009)
 
The European Parliament has adopted an own-initiative report from its Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI), which calls for stronger regulation of nanomaterials, including the provision of information to consumers on the use of nanomaterials in consumer products: ‘all ingredients present in the form of nanomaterials in substances, mixtures or articles should be clearly indicated in the labelling of the product (e.g. in the list of ingredients, the name of such ingredients should be followed by the word 'nano' in brackets)’. (29th April 2009)