Within minutes of a highly-charged vote in the European Parliament, ecologists called on EU governments, which still have the final say on the new rules, not to give in to the chemical industry, which has lobbied hard to avoid costly new red tape.

"This is a unique opportunity to protect women, men and children and their environment and it should not be sacrificed for the short-sighted interests of the large chemicals producers," said an umbrella group of green organizations.

The Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) system was approved by 407 votes in favour to 155 against at the 732-seat European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Under the system, companies must register up to 30,000 chemicals and provide information on potential hazards.

The new rules, which could be in place by early next year, would also clamp down on the use of animals to test new chemicals used in everything from soap powder to children's toys, and from pesticides to building materials.

But the multi-billion euro chemical industry has pushed hard against imposing extra costs on business. Estimates indicated that the new rules could cost hundreds of millions of euros per year.

The European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) said it was disappointed with some elements of the package "and considers that the vote reflects a conceptual misunderstanding on how substances of concern can be safely handled and used."

The potential economic impact of the new rules is huge: Europe produces 28 percent of the world's chemicals, with an industry turnover of 360 billion euros, according to European business leaders' grouping UNICE.

Reacting to Thursday's vote a group of green groups including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth acknowledged one "important step" in the new rules in replacing hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives.

But they regretted that the compromise accord exempted thousands of chemicals from the need to provide any health and safety information.

"A REACH adopted on this basis will not deliver the health and environment protection the public needs, as it would leave thousands of chemicals without basic toxicity data," they said in a joint statement.

The European Consumers Organisation BEUC also voiced profound concern over the compromise agreed in Strasbourg.

"Some of these chemicals, but we do not know which, almost certainly pose unacceptable risks to ourselves and our children," said BEUC head Jim Murray.

"A weak REACH as proposed today will not identify risks and hazards that need to be identified. It will not inspire consumer confidence in chemicals or in the chemicals industry."

The European Commission welcomed the vote, saying in a statement that it "will continue to play a constructive role as facilitator in order to achieve a compromise that makes REACH more effective and more workable, while preserving a high level of protection for health and the environment."

Britain, which currently holds the EU's six-month rotating presidency, had hoped to secure a deal from EU governments by the end of November.

That attempt was put on hold after incoming German chancellor Angela Merkel's new government asked for a delay to allow the new government in Berlin to study the dossier.

In a sign of the emotions stirred by the issue, parliamentary wrangling over the rules went down to the wire. A key compromise was struck Tuesday when it was agreed that small quantities of chemicals would not be affected.

The EU lawmakers' vote involved a web of amendments and lasted for nearly two and a half hours.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.