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Environment Daily NETHERLANDS, 4 March 2002 -- The Netherlands has announced a precautionary ban on a type of brominated flame retardant, threatening a row with some other EU member states and the European Commission, which believe that prohibition is not warranted scientifically and will damage the bloc's open market. Prohibition on import, production and use of the brominated flame retardant TetrabromobisphenolA,Bis - also known as FR-720 - was announced by Dutch environment minister Jan Pronk on Friday. His move responds to an application to produce the chemical from Dutch chemical firm Broomchemie, which is a subsidiary of Israel-based Dead Sea Bromine Group. Mr Pronk says the precautionary action is in line with a national chemicals policy agreed last year that sets tight deadlines for improving the amount and quality of safety information available for all "existing" and "new" substances. Its overall aim is to reduce chemical risks to Dutch citizens to "near zero" levels by 2020 (ED 23/03/01 http://www.environmentdaily.com/articles/index.cfm?action=article&ref=9583 ). Based on advice from the national public health and environment institute Rivm, the government has decided that existing data on FR-720 are "too limited" to indicate even the exact nature of any possible risks to the environment and human health, let alone their likely magnitude. A precautionary ban is therefore justified, the government says, because there is too little information available to show that the flame retardant is safe. The prohibition could be lifted, it adds, as long as Broomchemie provides sufficient information to enable a positive judgement to be made on FR-720's safety. The move has infuriated Broomchemie, which defends the quality of its data and says it is considering legal action. Meanwhile, Greenpeace Netherlands is delighted. One of its recent campaigns highlighted tests that showed the presence of brominated flame retardants in household dust. Large quantities of FR-720 are used to fire-proof of plastic household plumbing pipes and extractor fans located above kitchen ovens and stoves. Follow-up: Dutch environment ministry http://www.vrom.nl/, tel: +31 70 339 3939, and press release http://www.vrom.nl/pagina.html?id=1&goto=6812; Broomchemie press release http://www.environmentdaily.com/docs/broomchemie.doc, and FR-720 http://www.dsbgfr.com/site/EN/dsbg.asp?PI=121z&docId=77 information pages; Greenpeace Netherlands http://www.greenpeace.nl/, tel: +31 20 FAIR USE NOTICE. This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The Basel Action Network is making this article available in our efforts to advance understanding of ecological sustainability and environmental justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a `fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond `fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. More News |