Brussels, 03 october 2005

Brussels, 3 October 2005 - Euro Coop, the European Community of Consumer Cooperatives has today sent a letter to the Environment Committee MEPs expressing its views on the REACH vote scheduled for 4 October.

Given consumer co-operatives' long-standing roots in local communities and their objective of protecting the health and well-being of consumers, Euro Coop and its national member organizations have from the beginning actively supported the REACH proposal.

In its letter, Euro Coop highlights that there is an increasing concern among consumers about the unidentified effects that chemical substances can have on their lives. In fact, by the time the REACH provisions are implemented, the achievement of a high, common level of protection of Environment and Human Health will be a priority for all Europeans.

Euro Coop calls the MEPs, who bear a great responsibility in ensuring that REACH properly protects the health and well-being of consumers, to take into account the legitimate interests of all parties, including consumers. Consumer co-operatives and their consumers want a strong REACH that protects their health and well-being; they expect that the authorization, evaluation and registration mechanisms ensure that the products that they buy contain safe chemicals; in addition they want access to information on those substances; they believe that the protection of vulnerable population groups must also be a core element of REACH.

The amendments that Euro Coop has asked the Members of the ENVI Committee to support both respond to European consumers' current concerns, while also defending the greater public interest into the future.