The Netherlands Rescinds Flame Retardant Ban

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, March 3, 2003 (ENS) - The Netherlands is lifting an emergency prohibition imposed 12 months ago on a brominated flame retardant, the environment ministry said on Friday. Even as it announced the decision of Environment Minister Pieter Van Geel that "the temporary ban of the production, trade and use of the flame retardant FR-720 shall not be prolonged," the Dutch environment ministry denied any change in policy.

Former Environment Minister Jan Pronk caused consternation in the flame retardants industry last year when he announced prohibition of BDBPT - also known as FR-720 and TBBPA-bis.

State Secretary for The Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, Pieter Van Geel (Photo courtesy Office of the Minister)

By imposing a one year ban due to an absence of evidence of safety rather than the presence of evidence of risk, the industry argued, he was stepping outside accepted European Union procedures and setting a dangerous precedent.

According to the Dutch Environment Ministry, the decision not to renew the ban was based on a recent ruling by the Netherlands' highest administrative court concerning a disputed application by Israeli owned firm Broomchemie to manufacture BDBPT in Holland.

Regional authorities should not have proposed granting a temporary licence pending completion of safety studies, the court said. Instead, these must be completed before a production permit can be granted.

Broomchemie could now re-apply to make BDBPT in the Netherlands. It is unclear whether it will be able to persuade the authorities of its safety without carrying out extensive research, given the role that a lack of data played in Pronk's decision to ban it.

Tthe government's decision clearly lifts a cloud hanging over international trade in products containing BDBPT, since the prohibition included not only manufacture but also import, use and storage of the chemical.

Industry group the Bromine Science and Environment Forum (BSEF) welcomed the move, saying the ban had "proved unjustified as it lacked scientific evidence." The product is not found in the environment and an initial risk assessment on acute toxicity in January 2002 commissioned by the industry for the Dutch Government showed the substance was of no concern, said Dave Sanders, BSEF chairman.

Printed circuit boards are treated with brominated flame retardant (Photo credit unknown)

"We believe there is a need for sound scientific risk assessment of products such as BDBPT and we support the initiative of the Dutch Government to carry out a further study on BDBPT. We commit to cooperating with the Dutch authorities in this respect," Sanders said.

Brominated flame retardants are on the Danish Environmental Protection Agency's list of undesirable substances and have been prioritied to form part of a special effort. Swedish studies demonstrate a rising occurrence of brominated flame retardants in the marine environment in the past decades, and the presence of brominated flame retardants in human breast milk and adipose tissue.

{Published in cooperation with ENDS Environment Daily, Europe's choice for environmental news. Environmental Data Services Ltd, London. Email: envdaily@ends.co.uk}