Friends of the Earth (Malta) said the budgetary allocation by the European Parliament's Environment Committee on the new EU chemicals law (Reach) was a vital step towards protecting health and the environment from chemical contamination.
The vote, it said, reflects cross-party support for the substitution principle and sends a strong message back to the Council of Ministers that MEPs remain determined that chemicals of very high concern should be replaced by safer alternatives whenever possible.
FoE (Malta) also welcome the Environment Committee's decision to ensure that a legally binding "duty of care" applies to all chemicals, making chemical producers responsible for the safety of their products, as well as the Committee's backing for more information for consumers about chemicals in everyday products.