Monthly Briefing – February 2010 issue

● A selection of leading players provide a snapshot of how large SIEFs are progressing towards November's registration deadline

● REACHLink president Dr Hubert Mandery and managing director Alistair Steel talk to Mamta Patel about the challenges and improved performance of its SIEFReach IT platform;

● Emma Chynoweth hears from a range of service providers about their efforts to help SIEFs function efficiently

● Mamta Patel reports on Mayer Brown's new mediation service, which aims to break the deadlock over intractable disputes within SIEFs

● Melih Babayiğit explains how Turkey's new chemicals regulations are placing new obligations on manufacturers and importers

● Germany has tough REACH penalties, but different states are taking different enforcement approaches. Emma Chynoweth reports

● Geraint Roberts explains how Denmark is stepping up efforts to tackle endocrine disrupters and cumulative effects

● We report on how additional substances, including PFOS and two brominated flame retardants, face restrictions under a UNECE treaty on persistent organic pollutants (POPs)

● Philippa Jones hears Arkema's views on the potential benefits of nanomaterials

● A range of tools are needed to communicate the risks of nanomaterials through the value chain, says The Innovation Society's Christoph Meili

● Introducing his new regular column on chemicals management systems for the 21^st century, Tim Jessel of TRASYS saysregulatory compliance must be embedded in overall business strategy

● Dr REACH looks at Member States' historically different approaches to restriction and evaluation and asks how this will work under REACH?

● Jean-Philippe Montfort and Giovanni Indirli of Mayer Brown explain why SIEFs need to know whether several joint submissions can be made by a single SIEF

● In our Guest Column, ECHA executive director Geert Dancet assesses the challenges facing industry, the Agency and other stakeholders in 2010