ECHA, EC under fire over chemicals authorisation

Green group EEB has accused the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) of undermining the aims of the EU’s chemicals regulation by approving authorisations for continued use of banned hazardous substances “by default”.

But ECHA hit back at the criticism, which it said was “unfounded”.

EEB noted that all authorisations applied for to date have been granted by the Commission or have been recommended for approval by ECHA, even though authorisation is supposed to happen only in exceptional circumstances when the benefits outweigh the risks and there is no possible alternative.