Vote on PVC ban delayed

Date: 25/11/1999

By Renée Cordes

EU MEMBER states will meet again next week to decide whether to endorse European Commission proposals for an emergency ban on sales of some baby toys softened with chemicals known as phthalates.

The Commission's leading scientific committee, made up of representatives from the member states, postponed a vote on the issue earlier this week after some members of the panel - including the committee chairman - questioned the need for a ban. They agreed to meet again within "seven to ten days" to take a decision.

The delay was also prompted by a letter to the Commission from the Toy Industries of Europe (TIE) lobby group late last week offering to implement the ban on a voluntary basis.

The decision to postpone a vote came less than two weeks after Consumer Protection Commissioner David Byrne called for an emergency ban on some oral baby toys made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) softened with phthalates because of concerns that phthalates which leak into children's saliva can cause liver, kidney and testicle damage. The proposed embargo would cover future sales of items such as teething rings specifically intended to be put into the mouths of children up to age three, and would be followed by a permanent ban on six kinds of phthalates.

Maurits Bruggink, of the TIE, argued that a voluntary ban would be easier to enforce than a mandatory measure. "We believe it is better to do such a thing with the cooperation of the industry than without," he said.

But Greenpeace, which has been pressing for a complete withdrawal of soft PVC toys from the market, attacked the Commission for postponing a decision and vowed to step up pressure on member states to adopt their own national restrictions.

Austria, Denmark, France, Finland, Greece, Italy and Sweden have announced unilateral bans on the use of the chemicals in recent months, with Germany planning to follow suit.

EU Member States will meet again in December 1999 to decide whether to endorse European Commission proposals for an emergency ban on sales of some baby toys softened with chemicals known as phthalates.