The scale of Reach fees proposed by the new European Chemicals Agency was described as excessive in principle and practice by the Chemical Business Association (CBA)
Melvyn Whyte, chairman of CBA's Reach task force said: "When the agency first published its proposed scale of fees, we warned that they were out of control".
"It has since become clear that the major industry bodies share similar concerns.
"In terms of its regulatory authority, the agency has been invested with all the powers of a monopoly.
"These powers should not extend to imposing unwarranted and unjustified charges on the industry which it seeks to regulate".
In October 2007, CBA highlighted the fact that the agency's proposed scale of Reach fees had increased massively - by between 200% and 500% - on the fees originally proposed by the European Commission.
At this time, Melvyn Whyte commented that the fees had "Now reached a level where they are completely unacceptable and would inflict significant damage to the competitiveness of the industry".
The CBA supports the position taken by Cefic on behalf of Europe's chemical producers that to achieve 'transparency, proportionality and workability requires fundamental changes' to the agency's proposed fee scales.
"We agree with Cefic that the proposed fees would result in 'excessive revenue for the agency and an overcharging of industry' and would result in 'a lack of trust in the operation of the agency and the legitimacy of its fee structure.
The agency's budget also fails to address the question of multiple registrants for the same substance.
"This factor alone will inflate the agency's revenue to a level which is completely unjustified in relation to the work it is actually required to do.
"It also means that industry will be paying many times over for exactly the same service," said Melvyn Whyte.
"In the view of CBA, the agency should go back to the drawing board and, in so doing, recognise its obligation to be fair, responsible and accountable to the chemical industry," he added.
The CBA still believes that the main impact of the Reach regulation will be felt by smaller firms.
"SMEs are particularly vulnerable.
"They do not have the resources to cope with over-bearing, over-complicated and over-expensive regulation.
"The key fact is that industry will carry most of the workload for the operation of Reach.
"The agency cannot also expect to impose excessive charges and fees for this privilege," said Melvyn Whyte.
