Adrian Beard, pinfa and Clariant, summarised the new EU Chemicals Strategy, which is part of the EU Green Deal, see pinfa Newsletter n°119. This has strong political support and is justified by opinion surveys which suggest that 90% of the European public is worried about the impacts of chemicals on the environment, and 84% about impacts on human health. The Chemicals Strategy includes over 50 regulatory actions, including prioritising chemicals for restriction and phase out based on generic groupings. The aim is to move from restricting only a very small number of “Substances of Very High Concern” to restriction of all “Chemicals of Concern”, with a very low threshold of hazard. The Strategy goes beyond this and targets Product Environmental Footprint and social value. pinfa considers that the Chemicals Strategy is an opportunity to promote innovation in flame retardants, with possible EU R&D funding support. However, some PIN flame retardants on the market today are of some “concern” which needs to be properly addressed by industry. pinfa welcomes that the Chemicals Strategy, unlike REACH, recognises the need to ensure restriction of chemicals also in imported articles.