notice of the regulatory requirements of
SMEs. The European Commission is giving them a priority in a current drive to
improve existing regulations.
“The Better Regulation strategy of the
Commission includes specific guidelines
for assessing the impacts of EU initiatives
on SMEs,” said Vincent Navez, executive
director, legal affairs for the European
Chemical Industry Council (Cefic).
“In fact, impacts on SMEs must
be included in all Commission Impact
Assessment reports. It is important that
this dimension is looked at because, due
to their size and limited resources, SMEs
can be affected by the costs of regulation
proportionately more than their bigger
competitors. SMEs make up a significant
share of chemical companies operating in
the EU.”
The European Commission, together
with the European Chemicals Agency
(ECHA), responsible for administering
REACH, has, for example, been trying
to reduce costs of compliance with the
legislation, which has a final deadline for
registration of chemicals in two years.
“There is a focus on addressing the con-
cerns of SMEs, particularly in view of
the final REACH registration deadline
in mid-2018 that is predicted to affect
SMEs the most,” said Pete Walters, tech-
nical advisor, REACHReady, a London-
based consultancy.
The authorization process, regarded as
being at the core of REACH because its
objective to remove the most hazardous
chemicals from the market, has become a
bigger hurdle for companies wanting to
keep chemicals, considered a high risk, on
the market. “The process for applying for
the authorisation of a substance is com-
plex and expensive,” explained Walters.
“This can deter companies from making
authorization applications for substances
and instead they are withdrawing them
from the market.”
This can work against some SMEs.
For small companies making potentially
hazardous chemicals, authorization be-
come a bigger barrier because of its high
costs. Also, it can mean that chemicals
essential for the businesses of coatings
producers, distributors and users will no
longer be available.
However, companies are being relatively successful once they decide to apply
for authorization by providing evidence
that the risks of exposure to their chemicals are adequately controlled or that the
social and economic benefits of their remaining on the market outweigh these
risks. NGOs are even complaining that
authorizations are being given too easily.
A current contentious application
for authorization by Dominion Colour
Corp., a Toronto-based medium-sized
pigments manufacturer, involves two
lead chromates-- lead sulfochromate yellow pigment (PY. 34) and the lead chromate molybdate sulphate red (PR. 104),
both classified as carcinogenic and toxic
to reproduction.
After being supported by ECHA, the
application for a 12-year authorization
looked highly likely in mid-June to be
endorsed, after much deliberation, by the
European Commission, which takes the
final decision on authorizations.
The agency’s backing of the application had been criticized by some coatings
trade associations in Europe as well as
prominent multi-national pigment and
coatings producers supporting a voluntary ban on the use of lead pigments.
However, ECHA’s two specialist committees dealing with authorizations – one
covering health and environmental risks
and the other socio-economic issues –
both recommended that the lead chromates be authorized for 12 years with
a review after seven years of data from
health and environmental monitoring of
the products.
The two committees concluded that
the alternatives to the pigments, mainly
comprising inorganic pigments such
as bismuth vanadate and organic pigments like azo diarylides, could not
achieve the same levels of technical
performance as the lead chromates.
They were also more expensive – some
as much as 6-10 times.
Since they were exclusively for industrial coatings applications, consumers
were not exposed to the pigments, while
risks to workers could be adequately reduced with the aid of protective clothing,
the committees decided.
The authorization application was,
furthermore, sent out for public consul-
tation, which showed that it was strongly
supported by both coatings producers
and by coatings users.
“Some may have the impression that
the coatings industry did not support our
application,” said Mark Vincent, DCC’s
vice president for sales, marketing, tech-
nical. “In fact, there was overwhelming
support. Of the 384 responses received
during the public consultation process
on our application, the vast majority –
70 percent – concurred that there are
no alternatives for the uses applied for.
Of the remainder, 20 percent were tech-
nical/legal remarks and just 10 percent
were opposed, which included two coat-
ings companies”
“These pigments are still required by
our customers – small and medium sized
plastics and coatings manufacturers who
in turn provide technical solutions to
their customers,” he continued. “Our
application is all about these smaller
companies who have a need for these
pigments in their niche industrial and
professional applications.”
DCC argues that the authorization is
being consistent with longer-term objec-
tives, backed by large and small com-
panies according to trade association
surveys, to phase out lead-based coatings.
“We fully support the work of (regu-
lators, NGOs and parts of the coatings
industry) to push for a worldwide prohi-
bition on lead-based paint for consumer
and decorative purposes and encourage
restrictions on lead use in decorative
paints in countries where none exist to-
day,” explained Vincent. “This goal is
not incompatible with the continued use
of our two pigments because – as the
Commission states in its decision - the
uses applied for do not concern consum-
ers. Furthermore, we have policies and
procedures in place to both control the
sale of the products and ensure they are
handled safely.”
The big challenge is to successful
develop alternatives to pigments like
lead chromates which provide the same
quality, performance or durability re-
quired by coatings users, most of whom
are SMEs operating in niche, industrial
markets. CW
