Monthly Briefing – September 2010 issue

In this month's briefing:

• Emma Chynoweth reports on negotiations to revising the EU's biocides regime and developments in the European Commission, Council and Parliament;
• Doeke van der Schaaf and Linda-Jean Cockcroft of research body TNO examine the obligations companies will face for substances registered this year after they have submitted their dossiers;
• Consultant Chris Braun makes the case for transforming SIEFs and consortia into independent "substance institutes" with mandatory membership;
• Sean Milmo talks to OECD's Bob Diderich about the organisation's QSAR Application toolbox;
• In a joint submission, David Owen of Shell Chemicals and Bennard van Ravenzwaay argue that the quality of chemical categorisation can be improved by providing biologically based criteria;
• Francis Gillis looks at reaction to Canada's first major biomonitoring survey and the value the government hopes it will bring;
• Francis also provides an overview of the recent meeting of the International Cooperation on Cosmetics Regulation in Toronto;
• Mamta Patel offers a preview of ChemCon The Americas 2010, to be held in Philadelphia in November;
• Our Business Analyst, Tim Jessel, provides invaluable advice on using CHESAR to write chemical safety reports;
• Dr REACH, Steffen Erler, offers his top ten tips for successful REACH registration in 2010;
• Mayer Brown's Jean-Philippe Montfort looks at confidentiality issues and group notification under the CLP Regulation;
• In this month's Guest Column, Marko Susnik of UEAPME, the European trade body representing SMEs, argues that Member States and ECHA must take more account of small firms.