Monthly Briefing – October 2011 issue

In this month's briefing:

• Mamta Patel talks to ECHA chief Geert Dancet about his likely reappointment, his record and his immediate priorities;

• Emma Chynoweth pulls out the highlights from ECHA's 2012 work programme;

• Szilvia Deim, head of ECHA's Enforcement Forum, tells Emma Chynoweth about its projects and future plans;

• Philippa Jones reports on the advice that leading companies are offering on REACH registration and other aspects of the Regulation and CLP;

• In the first of two articles this month on testing, TNO Triskelion looks at the possible implications of ECHA's decisions on testing proposals...

• ...while in the second, Alistair Currie and Dr Kate Willett of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals,argue that REACH's requirement for animal testing to be a last resort is not being met;

• the key issues at ECETOC's recent workshop on the assessment of co-exposure to different chemicals are reported by Sean Milmo;

• An EU funded indoor air quality research project to discover which substances are contributing to asthma and other respirator illnesses is outlined by Geraint Roberts;

• Philippa Jones hears how the clothing brands targeted by Greenpeace's “Detox” campaign are responding to its call for their suppliers to achieve zero discharge of toxic substances;

• Case studies of companies pursuing proactive chemicals management policies that go beyond regulation were given at a Swedish workshop attended by Laura Greenhalgh;

• Consumer interest in “natural” products is driving demand for bio-surfactants, say Lucie Pfaltzgraff and Professor James Clark of the UK's Green Chemistry Network;

• The US Environmental Protection Agency's plans for chemicals prioritisation must focus on the top concerns, says Cal Dooley, president and ceo of the American Chemistry Council;

• Our first contributor to our new NGO Platform column, ClientEarth's Vito Buonsante, says ECHA must allow enough information on authorisation proposals to ensure full public scrutiny;

• In this month's legal spotlight, Jean-Philippe Montfort of Mayer Brown advises firms on ECHA requests for documents toprove claims that substances qualify as intermediates;

• In this month's Guest Column spot, Hans-Jürgen Wiegand, chairman of the BIAC Chemicals Committee, says why the OECD's EHS programme matters to business.