E.U.'s New Rules Forcing Changes By U.S. Firms

[kristopher]

Chemical Law Has Global Impact
E.U.'s New Rules Forcing Changes By U.S. Firms

By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 12, 2008; Page A01

Europe this month rolled out new restrictions on makers of chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems, changes that are forcing U.S. industries to find new ways to produce a wide range of everyday products.

The new laws in the European Union require companies to demonstrate that a chemical is safe before it enters commerce -- the opposite of policies in the United States, where regulators must prove that a chemical is harmful before it can be restricted or removed from the market. Manufacturers say that complying with the European laws will add billions to their costs, possibly driving up prices of some products.

The changes come at a time when consumers are increasingly worried about the long-term consequences of chemical exposure and are agitating for more aggressive regulation. In the United States, these pressures have spurred efforts in Congress and some state legislatures to pass laws that would circumvent the laborious federal regulatory process.

Adamantly opposed by the U.S. chemical industry and the Bush administration, the E.U. laws will be phased in over the next decade. It is difficult to know exactly how the changes will affect products sold in the United States. But American manufacturers are already searching for safer alternatives to chemicals used to make thousands of consumer goods, from bike helmets to shower curtains.

The European Union's tough stance on chemical regulation is the latest area in which...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/11/AR2008061103569.html


It's about damned time somebody stepped up to the plate on this.

[Benhurst]

1. Good!

[tom_paine]

2. I love the Free World. I just wish I was still a part of it.

I also love the way Free World nations can shame or force Inverted Totalitarianisms and other forms of tyranny simply by exercising the day-to-day lawful running of Free Nations, including acting on hard scientific data.

I agree with you and am also glad someone stepped up to the plate on this. I just knew it would never emanate from an America that wasn't free in any real sense anymore (just a pale shadow of what was)

I would like to thank the Free Nations of Europe for altering the behavior of Amerika's Inverted Totalitarian government. It's a damned sight more than we Imperial Subjects are able to do.

Force or money is all totalitarian governments, even newfangled inverted totalitarian nations like Imperial Amerika, care about.

Congratulations to the Free Peoples of the EU for hitting our tyrants where they live and pretty much the only thing they understand, their bottom line.

God Bless the Free World, holding a flickering candle of Liberty against the growing shadows of Amerika, Russia and China, Sister Nations in varying stages of Inverted Totalitarianism. (China being the most Classical and least Inverted, Amerika being the most Inverted)