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2019 Symposium Highlights

This year's Biocides Symposium brought together leading figures from industry, service providers and regulatory authorities to provide the latest regulatory developments that have an impact on those working with and under the Biocidal Product Regulation (BPR).

The 10th annual Symposium took place in Rome on 23-24 May and addressed the latest updates in the biocides field, including authorisation and approval-related issues, risk assessment, efficacy, biocides in the supply chain, alternatives to biocides, sustainability, and Brexit.

The two-day event welcomed a panel of carefully-selected experts from leading organisations including Echa, the European Commission, OECD, Danish Environmental Protection Agency, Steptoe & Johnson, knoell and A.I.S.E.

Key topics covered at this year’s Symposium included:

  • National overview of biocides authorisations;
  • Evaluation-related issues for biocidal products and active substances;
  • Important efficacy developments;
  • Break-out sessions on ED criteria and the impact of the BPR on industry/SMEs;
  • The ‘Consortium’ concept for biocidal products;
  • Panel discussion: After 5 ½ years is the BPR achieving its aims?;
  • The sustainable use of biocides and insecticides; and,
  • Brexit.

View the full 2019 programme here >>


Speakers

David Dillon
Senior Managing Scientist, Exponent International Ltd, UK

Erik van de Plassche
Chairman of the Biocidal Products Committee, European Chemicals Agency, Finland

Michael Werner
Senior Expert Regulatory Toxicology Biocides, knoell GmbH, Germany

Komal K. Jain
Executive Director, Center for Biocide Chemistries, USA

Martinus Nagtzaam
Policy Officer, European Commission, Belgium

Elodie Cazelle
Senior Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Manager, A.I.S.E, Belgium

Marko Sušnik
Senior Advisor, WKÖ/SMEunited, Austria

Eléonore Mullier
Senior Associate, Steptoe, Belgium

Maristella Rubbiani
Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italy

View all speakers here >>


Testimonials:

“A great blend of topics and well-chosen speakers – really extraordinary”
– Dr Michael Feldhege, Feldhege Consulting

“Very good organisation, and interesting topics and speakers”
– Zuzana Spurna, Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic

“Very interesting subjects for authorisation and best practice”
– Maria Theodorou Georgiadou, A.P. Georghiades

“Good organisation and great, high-quality speakers”
– Roberto Paganelli, Environmental Resources Management (ERM)

“It was interesting as a downstream user of biocides to see what other suppliers are doing”
– Hayley Comerford, Synthomer

“Good variety of subjects and good relevance in terms of the BPR process”
– Anonymous


Chemical Watch articles from the Summit

Throughout the two-day Summit, the Chemical Watch editorial team gathered some valuable insights on significant issues. Read the articles here:

>> Trade bodies flag need for short-term action against preservatives shortage
The European paint and detergent sectors urgently need short-term solutions to manage the shrinking number of available preservatives, biocides stakeholders have said. Read the full article >>

>> Biocides industry warns of BPR’s ‘silent effect’ on market
Biocides stakeholders are calling for a rethink of the biocidal products Regulation’s (BPR) authorisation processes, amid concerns that the law’s costs and complexity are pushing biocidal products off the European market. Read the full article >>


Event gallery:

Biocides Symposium 2019, 23-24 May, Rome, Italy


Tweets from the day:


Future events from Chemical Watch

Conferences

  • Biocides Europe 2019
    3-4 December 2019, Vienna, Austria – Register here
  • Biocides Symposium 2020 
    12-13 May 2020, Athens, Greece – Register here

Training Courses

  • Risk Assessment for Biocides
    22-23 October 2019, Germany – Register here
  • Guidance for Identifying Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals
    24 October 2019 Frankfurt, Germany – Register here
  • Biocidal Product Families
    24 October 2019, Frankfurt, Germany – Register here
  • Physical-Chemical Properties for BPR
    2 December 2019, Austria – Register here