Unanimous EU Member State Opposition to Parliament call for extended phase-out of three flame retardants

28 September 2001

Unanimous EU Member State Opposition to Parliament call for extended phase-out of three flame retardants

EBFRIP welcomes Council’s decision of yesterday to oppose Parliamentary amendments aiming at extending the phase-out of penta-BDE to two other flame retardants, octa-BDE and deca-BDE.

By adopting this position unanimously, EU Member States have now sent a clear signal to the Parliament in their refusal of any extended ban of octa-BDE and deca-BDE. Risk assessment conclusions, expected at the end of this year, should now be the basis for any future policy decisions on octa-BDE and deca-BDE.

One Parliament amendment accepted by Member States limits the content of penta-BDE in octa-BDE to 0.1%. This is welcomed by EBFRIP as the industry is committed to achieving this in the future.

EBFRIP is pleased by the Council decision, which recognises the need to take account of emerging EU risk assessments on octa-BDE and deca-BDE, as well as the importance of these flame retardants in terms of saving lives and preventing injuries from fire.

The proposed Directive will now return to the Parliament for a second reading at the beginning of next year.

End of statement