European Acceptance Scheme is needed to ease cross-border sales

It will be many years before the European Commission implements a pan-European set of standards for plastics and other materials used for drinking water pipes, a conference was told yesterday. The Commission has said it was unlikely to implement the European Acceptance Scheme before 2009 or 2010, according to John Ashworth, a member of the Expert Group working on the EAS.

He told delegates at the Pipes 2006 conference in Brussels that although a draft of the EAS has been submitted to the Commission, there are many major issues outstanding. These include finalising test methods; determining method repeatibility; and agreement on conversion factors and pass/fail criteria. The slow progress of the EAS is also due to conflicts between materials competing with plastics and separate testing and regulations in member states. Some have suggested 2015 as a more realistic date.

The European Plastics Pipes and Fittings Association is conducting a study with PlasticsEurope to analyse whether any substances migrate from plastics pipes into drinking water. Project manager Tiem Meijering said the study will give the plastics pipes industry all the information it needs in discussions on the EAS. First results are expected in the second half of 2006.