Last week, the European Parliament voted in favour of adopting “One Substance, One Assessment” (OSOA), a legislative package consisting of three complementary proposals intended to streamline chemical safety assessments across EU legislation. The reform is part of the 2020 EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS), designed to improve the protection of citizens and the environment and to boost innovation, by developing safe and sustainable chemicals. It is also part of the EU’s zero pollution vision for 2050.
OSOA aims to help fulfil the goals of the CSS and streamline these processes by integrating existing databases into what is being referred to as a “one-stop-shop” access to data on chemicals, whilst increasing cooperation, efficiency, and synergies between the various agencies involved in chemicals regulation across Europe, such as the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the European Environment Agency (EEA), and the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
There is also a focus on increasing clarity by emphasising the need for a publicly available data platform, as well as ensuring transparency in scientific studies to reduce the risk of duplication of efforts. Voluntary data submission is also highly encouraged under OSOA, with some focus on human biomonitoring to further bolster the data fed into the platform.
The deal on the informal agreement between the co-legislators was adopted by the following vote counts:
- Common data platform on chemicals: 471 votes to 123, with 48 abstentions.
- Re-attribution of scientific and technical tasks: 469 votes to 126, with 50 abstentions.
- EU Chemicals Agency: 477 votes to 93, with 76 abstentions.
Once formally adopted by the Council of the European Union, the texts will be published in the EU Official Journal (OJ), with entry into force 20 days following OJ publication as standard.
