Sep 23, 2008, 15:41 GMT
Prague - Czech lawmakers Tuesday overrode a presidential veto of a law that puts the country's chemical industry under tougher European Union rules.
The legislation passed 133-12, with 101 votes needed in the 200- seat lower house of parliament to strike the veto down.
The bill, originally passed by parliament in July, implements an EU directive that requires manufacturers and importers to register chemicals with the new Helsinki-based European Chemicals Agency.
The new EU agency's tasks are to collect information and run a public database on chemicals as well as to evaluate, authorize and restrict use of substances so they pose no hazard to humans and the environment.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus, a free-market proponent and outspoken EU critic, called the directive, also known as REACH, bureaucratic and bad for business.
'There is no reason to further toughen legislation in this field,' he said in an earlier statement. 'People are not endangered by chemicals.'
The European Parliament approved the regulation in 2006. It entered into force in 2007.
Your Talkback on this Story