In a somewhat chaotic start last month to the European Parliament's consideration of the European chemicals legislation known as REACH, the broad grouping of the inorganic materials sector failed to gain representation at the Parliament's public meeting, whereas the organic sector was comparatively well represented. However, Parliamentary deliberations of the complex issues involved are likely to take the rest of this year and may spread into 2006.

Peter Brewin, the European Powder Metallurgy Association's technical director says that for the metals sector in general, lobbying of MEPs will become a very important core activity, as will industry representation via organisations like the Metals Forum. This is an informal alliance between Eurométaux (non-ferrous metals sector), Eurofer, (iron and steel sector) and EIMAG (metallic alloys sector) set up to represent the interests of the metals sectors in relation to the REACH proposal.

The Metals Forum last month issued a statement setting out some of its concerns. In REACH, it said, the term "chemicals" covers all substances. The biggest industry affected by REACH is the EU inorganic substances industry, which at around three billion tonnes plus per annum uses about 10 times the volume of substances used by the organic sector, which is usually understood to be the EU "chemicals industry".

"The metals and alloys industry is one of the biggest EU inorganic industries, and is the EU inorganic industry most heavily affected by REACH in its proposed form, said the Forum.

"While supporting the general principles raised by UNICE (the European employers group), the Metals Forum's principal metal-specific concerns focus on very specific characteristics of the metals industry that require proper recognition to understand the impact and consequences of REACH.

"Metals are natural materials meaning that the composition of the origin materials (minerals, ores, concentrates) is established by nature and cannot be changed. Metals are also internationally traded commodities whose base selling price is effectively equal everywhere in the world, restricting the ability of EU industry to pass on any costs associated with REACH.

"In the wider EU policy perspective, metals and alloys play vital roles in several key policy objectives related to sustainable development and competitiveness - eg long life products, infinitely recyclable without quality loss, efficient resource use and internationally competitive, value-adding, businesses. There is evidence that in its present form, REACH will act against these wider policy objectives, at least as far as metals and alloys are concerned."

Turning its guns on the authors of the legislation, the European commission, the Metals Forum says: "In its considerations to date, the Commission appears to have made the assumption that the industry most affected by REACH is the organic chemical industry. Almost all the REACH improvements proposed by the inorganic industry, including metals and alloys industry, have been ignored.

"We hope that Members of the European Parliament will recognise the importance of REACH to the inorganic substances industry and give due time to considerations of our proposals."

The Forum summarises its principal metal-specific concerns and suggested improvements in a limited number of specific key issues:

• Minerals, ores and concentrates, the naturally occurring raw materials of our industry, are in the current scope of REACH. Because of the peculiarities of nature, use of most of them will require registration, and many authorisation. These naturally occurring inorganic raw materials should be treated in the same way as organic naturally occurring materials (crude oil, gas) and be excluded from REACH.
• Secondary raw materials, which are the feedstock for the very efficient EU metals recycling industry to produce new metals of equal quality as produced from ores, appear to be in the scope of REACH. And again, use of many of them will require authorisation. This will result in less recycling, more export of these valuable sources to countries with lower environmental and workers protection standards, consequently resulting in a less competitive EU recycling industry.
• Alloys and metals are used predominantly (well over 90 per cent) in the massive form. To apply the full requirements of REACH to such uses would result in workload and cost burdens that are totally disproportionate to the very low risks that such uses pose to man and the environment.
• Volume-based prioritisation penalises the high volume EU metals and alloys industry and is no indication of risk. In essence we will have three years to do everything, leading to a much distorted use of scarce resources - human as well as financial - and threatening the workability of the system.
• REACH should not adopt an ideological approach to substitution. For metals and alloys, the development of substitutes is a very complex and specialised activity.

It is essential that this reality be recognised in REACH.