Confidentiality Protections for Chemical Information not Exclusive to U.S.

The chemical industry and other refute the claim and note that while there are differences among the United States and other countries, CBI protections are not unique to the U.S. and are essential to ensuring innovation and competitiveness.   

Michael Boucher tells Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News the fact that EPA has access to CBI information is often obscured. "It has mountains of information. [CBI is] not kept from the government. It may be kept from the public in some cases," he notes.

While discussing the difference among countries, Boucher notes that because Canada is perceived as acting on chemicals - due to its Chemicals Management Program - the pressure is off for chemical disclosure.

This article appeared in its entirety in the January 10, 2010 edition of Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News.