Consultation on Proposed EC Directive to restrict the use of nonylphenol and nonylphenol ethoxylates

Note: This consultation has now closed. A summary of responses, and an indication of what actions the Government intends to take following the consultation, will be published in due course. The following material has been left in place for reference/archive purposes.

This consultation paper requests information and comments from interested producers, manufacturers, users, non-governmental organisations, the scientific community and other parties. It summarises and considers the proposals put forward on 16 August 2002 by the European Commission in respect of nonylphenol (NP) and nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE).

The proposals are for a Marketing and Use Directive amending the 26th time Directive 76/769/EEC to protect the environment from exposure to nonylphenol/nonyphenol ethoxylates (NP/NPE), with some exceptions, in industrial and institutional cleaning, domestic cleaning, textiles and leather processing, use as an emulsifier in agricultural teat dips, metal working, manufacturing of pulp and paper, cosmetics including shampoos and other personal care products.

The Commission proposals also cover cement; these measures are intended to protect the health of workers, are the subject of separate consultations by the Health and Safety Executive, and are not covered by this consultation document.

The following documents are available:

• consultation document (Adobe Acrobat format, 60kb), including list of consultees

• Annex B - partial Regulatory Impact Assessment (Adobe Acrobat format, 210kb)

• Defra's News Release, "Government seeks voluntary action by industry to reduce the risks from dangerous chemicals", issued on 18 October 2002, is relevant

• Annex A, the Commission Proposal (COM (2002) 0459), is available at http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/pdf/2002/com2002_0459en01.pdf

In general, EU documents can be located via the following:

• The main European Union web site is at this address
• European Union legal documents can be accessed at this site.
• The public register of Council Documents can be used to locate latest texts
• The current stage of the European Parliament's consideration can be obtained using the European Parliament's Legislative Observatory.

Responses

Responses are requested by 9 December 2002 to:

Chuin Kee
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Chemicals and GM Policy Division
3/E5
Ashdown House
123 Victoria Street
London SW1E 6DE

Replies can also be sent by email to:

chemical.management@defra.gsi.gov.uk

Printed copies of the consultation paper can be obtained by writing to or e-mailing the above addresses.

The Adobe Acrobat Reader can be freely downloaded. Viewers with visual difficulties may find it useful to investigate services provided to improve the accessibility of Acrobat documents - http://access.adobe.com