"The simple rule is: no data, no market," Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom said at a news conference.

At present, only substances put on the market after 1981 have to undergo safety testing, leaving an estimated 100,000 chemicals in use for which the possible affects on health and the environment are unknown, Wallstrom said.

The law could have a major impact on thousands of firms around the world that make chemicals or use them in products such as plastics, electronics and toys, as it will apply to products imported into the EU as well as those made there.

Most chemicals produced or imported in quantities of more than a tonne would be subject to the new system, dubbed "Reach" (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals).

Substances giving rise to the most concern would need to be registered within three years or be banned, while others would be given up to 11 years.

The Commission, the EU's executive arm, estimates that the new law, which will require industry to register some 30,000 chemicals at its own cost, will have a direct cost of around four billion euros ($4.56 billion) by 2020.

EU Enterprise Commissioner Erkki Liikanen said industry would benefit by winning the support of a sceptical public increasingly worried about the safety of consumer products.

"If we get this right, the European chemical industry will be the winner," he said at the news conference.

ECONOMIC RISK

The EU chemical industry group Cefic said the real cost could exceed 30 billion euros and dent economic growth in countries with important chemicals sectors such as France and Germany by up to three percent of gross domestic product.

"The new regulations will result in further cost increases for the majority of products and lengthen the time to market for new products. The consequence: job losses and imports of finished goods produced outside the EU," Cefic said.

Industry and other stakeholders will have a chance to influence the bill before it goes to EU governments and the European Parliament for approval, as the Commission has left an eight-week consultation period before releasing the final draft.

Environmentalists condemned the delay, saying there was a chance the proposals could be watered down and meant that the EU assembly might not have time to decide on the bill before elections in June 2004.

"It comes down to one question - do we want to phase out the chemicals that accumulate in wildlife and ourselves, and those that disrupt our hormones to which even the unborn infant is exposed?" said Michael Warhurst of environmental group WWF.

"I believe that the European public does, and the European Commission is failing to get moving on this crucial task."

ANIMAL SLAUGHTER

The bill has also split non-governmental organisations, with animal rights campaigners opposing the initiative, which could lead to a massive increase in animal testing.

"The new EU chemicals policy will be the largest mass animal poisoning programme Europe has ever seen," said Wendy Higgins of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection.

BUAV, which fears millions of animals will be killed, is calling for testing to be done in-vitro and not on live mammals, which is still the common practice in most chemical tests.