BRUSSELS, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- European lawmakers adopted a draft measure that would restrict access to chemicals that could be used to make homemade explosives.
In a unanimous vote, a civil liberties committee adopted the draft measure to restrict the public's access to chemical precursors that could be used to make a bomb.
The European Parliament said terrorist attacks in recent years used explosive devices from fertilizers, swimming pool cleaning tablets and other agents readily available to the public.
"With this new regulation, the general public's access to explosives precursors will be greatly reduced," said Dutch lawmaker Jan Mulder in a statement. "This is a huge step forward in the fight against terrorism and organized crime."
Anders Behring Breivik used an explosive device made from a mixture of fertilizer and fuel oil to bomb government installations in Oslo in 2011.
The European measure, however, states that no license would be needed for common cleaning agents or fertilizers under the draft measure. Sellers, however, would be required to register sales of many chemical precursors.
Parliament stated that some member states would maintain their own systems for chemical sales. Lawmakers would review any rules again in three years.
