Bulgaria's parliament has passed two bills on first reading to tighten rules on harmful chemicals, with no debate. The Council of Ministers put forward both.
MPs backed the first bill, submitted on July 24, by 140 votes to none, with 9 abstentions. The second, from September 9, passed 142 to none, with 9 abstentions. Parliament's health committee supports both.
The first bill sets rules for making and importing dental amalgam and controlling its use. Patients with specific conditions can still get it, and officials expect mercury use to fall as limits on supply and demand take hold. The bill also adds new classes of hazardous substances.
Importers, distributors and other firms that sell chemical mixtures will now have to send their data to the National Centre of Public Health and Analyses.
The government says the changes will protect people's health by cutting mercury exposure and tightening safeguards against harmful substances.
The second bill names the bodies that will check whether businesses, online marketplaces and professional users follow the rules. Companies that break the ban on supplying precursor chemicals to the public will face fines.
It also sets up a national contact point where people must report suspicious deals, attempts at them, or major losses and thefts of these substances.
Both bills still need a second reading.