1. Chemicals regulations: main principles

The vast majority of chemicals regulations applicable in France are based on European legislation:

• or by directives that must be transposed into national legislation;

• or by regulations applicable in letter and simultaneously throughout the Community.

The current trend in the development of legislation is towards the establishment of regulations.

In the European regulatory system, a distinction is made between two types of texts:

• regulations governing the manufacture or marketing of a chemical product, such as REACh or CLP;

• those laying down rules of use for a given application or function, such as biocides (