May 23 EU: The European Chemicals Agency Sued Over REACH Chemical Secrecy

From: Environmental Leader

The European Chemicals Agency is being sued by environmental law organization ClientEarth and non-profit ChemSec over its refusal to release the names of companies producing what the two groups call some of the most dangerous chemicals in the EU market. The lawsuit alleges several violations of European laws designed to promote transparency, democracy, and legitimacy in EU policy-making.

The chemicals in question are 356 of those on ChemSec’s SIN, or Substitute It Now, list which includes chemicals identified as substances of very high concern under the EU’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulations. ClientEarth and ChemSec state that the refusal to disclose information regarding the production of these dangerous chemcials conflicts with REACH, which is designed to protect public health by prohibiting the unsafe use of chemicals, as well as EU transparency laws on disclosure of environmental information.

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