In a European Resolution dated 5 July 2022, the French Senate expressed its concern about the preservation of the lavender-based essential oil industry, which the parliamentarians consider threatened by the revision of the REACH and CLP Regulations. On 13 September 2022, the European Commission gave its response…
The French Senate’s European Resolution is motivated primarily by “the importance of the essential oils sector for the territories of southern France, particularly in the Baronnies and Haute Provence, as well as its fragility.”
The senators, who believe that “as soon as they were implemented, the REACH and CLP Regulations appeared to be unsuitable for natural perfume, medicinal and aromatic plants,” fear that there is a real risk that this sector “will become a collateral victim of the current revision processes of these two Regulations.”
EOs, victims of the CSS?
The concern arose from the European Commission’s announcement on 14 October 2020 of its Chemical Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) within the overall framework of the Green Deal, followed by that of the revision of the two major pieces of legislation in the field of chemicals management in Europe: the REACH and CLP Regulations.
In particular, the European Commission plans to introduce new hazard classes, including for endocrine disruptors, immunotoxic, neurotoxic or respiratory toxic substances. This would imply additional safety assessments for many ingredients (including complex natural ingredients such as essential oils) and additional labelling requirements, including the hazard pictograms of the CLP Regulation.
In their Resolution, the Senators raise several …
