FRAME initiatives on the European Union REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) system for the safety testing and risk assessment of chemicals, first proposed as a White Paper in 2001, are summarised. These initiatives considered the scientific and animal welfare issues raised by the REACH proposals, and resulted in a number of suggestions for improvement, many of which seem to have been adopted during the current progress of the legislation through the European Council and European Parliament.
Anon. (2003). Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency and amending Directive 1999/45/ec and Regulation (EC) {on Persistent Organic Pollutants}. COM(2003) 644 final. 1321pp, in six volumes. Website http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/pdf/2003/com2003_0644en.html (Accessed 14.01.06).
Various European Chemicals Bureau web pages. Website http://ecb.jrc.it/REACH/ (Accessed 14.01.06).
6.
AhrensA., JepsenD., HeitmannK. & ClausF. (2005). The SPORT Report — Making REACH Work in Practice.51pp. Hamburg, Germany:ÖKOPOL, and Dortmund, Germany: iku GmbH. Website http://www.sport-project.info/index.htm (Accessed 2.7.05).
BallsM. (2006). International validation and barriers to the validation of alternative tests. In Alternatives to Animal Testing (ed. HesterR.). Issues in Environmental Science and Technology No. 23, pp. 28–52. Cambridge, UK:The Royal Society of Chemistry.
10.
BallsM. & CombesR.D. (2006). The OECD health effects test guidelines: A challenge to the sincerity of commitment to the Three Rs. ATLA34, 105–108.
11.
BhogalN. (2005). The EU REACH system: Blessing in disguise or a wolf in wolf's clothing?ATLA33, 81–82.
12.
BhogalN., GrindonC. & CombesR. (2005). Revolutionising the testing of medicines and chemicals in Europe. AV Magazine, Spring 2005. A publication of the American Anti-Vivisection Society.
13.
CombesR. (2002). The EU White Paper: Strategy for a Future Chemicals Policy (an idea that must have seemed good at the time!). ATLA30, 1–3.
14.
CombesR.D. (2004). The current OECD Health Effects Test Guidelines are in urgent need of revision. ATLA32, 463–464.
15.
CombesR.D. (2004). The EU REACH scheme for chemicals testing — a challenge and an opportunity for alternatives to laboratory animals. Science in Parliament, Summer 2004, 8–9.
16.
CombesR. (2005). “Europe goes alternative” — what's all the fuss about?ATLA33, 549–552.
17.
CombesR.D. (2006). In vitro testing for endocrine disruptors. In Alternatives to Animal Testing (ed. HesterR.). Issues in Environmental Science and Technology No. 23, pp. 53–73. Cambridge, UK:The Royal Society of Chemistry.
18.
CombesR. & BallsM. (2003). How much flexibility is possible when validating new in vivo and in vitro toxicity test methods?ATLA31, 225–232.
19.
CombesR. & BallsM. (2005). Intelligent testing strategies for chemicals testing — a case of more haste, less speed?ATLA33, 289–297.
20.
CombesR., BarrattM. & BallsM. (2003). An overall strategy for the testing of chemicals for human hazard and risk assessment under the EU REACH system. ATLA31, 7–19.
21.
CombesR., DandreaJ. & BallsM. (2003). A critical assessment of the European Commission's proposals for the risk assessment and registration of chemical substances in the European Union. ATLA31, 353–364.
22.
CombesR.D., DandreaJ. & BallsM. (2003). FRAME and the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution: common recommendations for assessing risks posed by chemicals under the EU REACH system. ATLA31, 529–535.
23.
CombesR.D., GauntI. & BallsM. (2004). A scientific and animal welfare assessment of the OECD health effects test guidelines for the safety testing of chemicals under the European Union REACH system. ATLA32, 163–208.
24.
DandreaJ. & CombesR.D. (2003). A survey of stakeholder organisations on the proposed new European chemicals policy. ATLA31, 501–528.
25.
GrindonC., BhogalN., CombesR. & BallsM. (2005). The scientific, animal welfare and regulatory implications of the EU REACH system for chemical safety. TOPRA Regulatory Rapporteur2, No. 4, 16–22.
