TRADE officials of the member-countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) have expressed concerns over the European Union’s (EU) latest policy on chemical regulations for exporters, saying it should not serve as barrier for entry of products coming from members of the regional bloc.

The Apec meeting for ministers responsible for trade has cited the importance of the continuing dialogue for improving business environment in the Asia -Pacific region. The dialogue has allowed public and private sectors in the member-economies to discuss ways to enhance trade facilitation, transparency and identify the barriers to trade and investments.

In the statement of the chairman of the Apec meeting of ministers responsible for trade, it noted the concerns raised by the Apec Business Advisory Council, including the impact of the new EU policy chemicals entering its borders adopted on June 1.

The European Commission has earlier announced the adoption of the new law on chemicals and their safe use titled as REACH (registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals), that should pass EU standards.

The EC explained that REACH has implications for all chemical substances, manufactured in or exported to the EU, including those contained in articles/products.

“We emphasized our concerns over the potential negative impact of the EU’s Chemical Policy [REACH] and reiterated our position that these measures should not constitute unnecessary obstacle to trade in chemicals and downstream products,” said the statement of the chairman of the Apec meeting for ministers responsible for trade, a copy of which was obtained by the BusinessMirror.

The regional bloc said two Apec reports on Best Practices for Chemical Regulations and Globally Harmonized System Virtual Group must be used as key contributions to the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management to be discussed in the proposed Chemicals Regulators Forum. 

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Apec trade officials express concern over EU’s latest policy

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