Ales Bartl Quoted in Chemical Watch Insight Article on ‘Acceptable Alternatives’ in EU Essential Use Criteria

Keller and Heckman Partner Ales Bartl was quoted in the Chemical Watch Insight article, “What are ‘acceptable alternatives’ in EU essential use criteria?” The article highlights the recent essential use document published by the European Commission, and how the document introduces a new concept regarding acceptable alternatives. The document defines acceptable alternatives from a 1) societal perspective and 2) a safety point of view. 

According to Ales, if a European court were to interpret the ‘safer’ criterion, it would consider the purpose of the essential use concept, which is to phase out the most harmful substances, and would rule that ‘safer’ primarily means that an alternative is not itself a ‘most harmful substance.’ “In other words, it is not about assessing which of the two ‘most harmful substances’ is safer,” commented Ales.

Ales also added that using the same criteria as the Montreal Protocol would not be legally sound. Montreal needs a stricter test to prevent ozone-depleting substances being replaced by substances that do not deplete ozone, but pose a risk to human health. “This approach is not warranted in the case of essential uses,” he said.

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