Rome, 1st December 2022 - "Hypothesizing a passage of the current production of lead-based ammunition to the alternative substances available today would put us in the face of delays, shortages of products, as well as dependence on non-European states.” So she stated Giovanni Ghini, President of ANPAM – National Association of Arms and Sporting and Civilian Ammunition Manufacturers-, as part of the event How can we govern Europe? The new challenges of the EU” in relation to European legislative proposal time to ban the use of lead in civilian ammunition in the Union, based on the conclusions provided by ECHA, the European Chemicals Agency.
The meeting was held in Rome and was sponsored by the European Parliament and Commission. During the event, organized by EU News, the Green Economy Agency and the Art. 49 Foundation, a parterre of institutions, journalists, academics and industrialists discussed the future of sustainability and the European economy, describing a complex scenario full of hidden pitfalls. ANPAM filerepresented by its president John Ghini, was invited to give her testimony on the topics of security and defense of the Union and on the situation of strong pressure that the sector is undergoing due to the demand generated by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. In this context, the Association has defined it unthinkable to consider a further restriction applied to raw materials for European ammunition, also considering the need to replace civilian machinery and assembly lines, which would no longer be reconvertable to the production of military munitions in times of need.
If the European legislative proposal, based on the conclusions provided by ECHA, were to be converted into law, the dangers to our safety would be real. In fact, according to data from AFEMS – Association of European Manufacturers of Sporting Ammuniton – cited by Ghini “if we imagine a scenario in which the use of lead for the production of ammunition will be prohibited, we must consider the availability and access to alternative materials. Among them, ECHA, which promotes such restriction, lists materials such as steel, tungsten and copper, among others.
Unlike lead, which is 50% domestically sourced, the steel import is close to 100%, with an almost total dependence on the Chinese market”. While as regards tungsten and bismuth "in addition to the almost total dependence on China for supply, these materials have been included in the list of Critical Raw Materials of the EU and therefore a large-scale use of them for production purposes for the military market is unthinkable".
The president also raised the issue the compatibility of products created with alternative metals with NATO standards, both in terms of ballistic performance and interchangeability, declaring that "a possible entry into the military sector of alternative lead ammunition it would require a sufficient amount of time for the definition of NATO standards concerning the validity of the product from a technical and ballistic point of view. Based on the procedures in place, this period of time, if the alternative is suitable, is quantifiable in at least 10 years. "
For all these reasons AFEMS extension, a European association to which manufacturers of both civilian products and 90% of military ammunition producers belong, has proposed a request for a moratorium of 10 years the introduction of this restriction. This period of time is necessary to allow national and European industry to identify alternatives to lead that do not make the EU dependent on imports from third countries and that do not compromise the capacity of the production chain in the event of an increase in demand due to armed conflicts on the borders of the EU.