BRUSSELS, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- The European Parliament and EU governments have struck a deal on the European Union's new chemicals law after a three-year bargain.

    The compromise, reached shortly before midnight on Thursday, paves the way for its adoption by the European Parliament on December 13. The draft law named REACH, referring to registration, evaluation and authorization of chemicals, will come into effect next year.

    The new law will impose safety checks on 30,000 chemicals used in everyday products for the sake of human health and environment.

    Companies are required to register all chemicals used, provide information about them, and list potential risks. So it will be the burden of chemical producers to prove their products are safe, not the public authorities to show the toxicity of chemicals.

    A new agency based in Helsinki, Finland will be in charge of the implementation of the new law.

    In the initial period before 2018, focus will put on the most toxic chemicals and those produced in largest quantity. Producers will have to provide plans to replace the 1,500 most dangerous chemicals, or develop alternatives if none exists, but they will not be banned outright as environmentalists had hoped.

    Since the European Commission first laid out proposals in October 2003, the new rules have seen fierce lobbying by both chemicals industry and environmentalists.