In light of the European Chemicals Agency's (ECHA) recent release of Version 2.0 of its Guidance on Data Sharing, which provides assistance to companies placing substances onto the European Union (EU) market under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation (EC regulation 1907/2006), and other developments, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. has updated its memorandum on EU and international data compensation and sharing mechanisms. This 35-page memorandum reviews data citation, compensation, and sharing provisions under REACH and Canada's pesticide data citation and compensation regulations. If anyone is interested in obtaining a copy of this detailed and up-to-date memorandum, please contact B&C.

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C), B&C Consortia Management, L.L.C. (BCCM), The Acta Group, L.L.C. (Acta), and The Acta Group EU, Ltd (Acta EU) are pleased to announce that on October 25, 2011, Joseph E. Plamondon will speak in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the 30th Biennial Western Coatings Symposium on the regulation of polymers under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the European Union's Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation, and the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA). The Western Coatings Symposium is one of the coatings industry's premier events. Additional information is available online.

The Western Coatings Society is a voluntary, nonprofit trade association representing more than 100 paint and coatings manufacturers, raw materials suppliers, distributors, educators, and students. Its objective is to provide technical education and professional development to its members and the coatings industry through its monthly technical presentations, technical documents, job assistance, and scholarships.

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C), The Acta Group, L.L.C. (Acta), and The Acta Group EU, Ltd (Acta EU) are pleased to announce that on June 23, 2011, Lynn L. Bergeson, Lisa R. Burchi, and Leslie S. MacDougall will participate in a webinar entitled "The Evolving REACH Data Citation/Compensation Scheme: What to Watch for and Why." The European Union's (EU) Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation is a complex chemical management regulation intended to replace approximately 40 previously existing legal instruments with a single EU regulatory scheme for all chemical substances (both new and existing substances). Importantly, REACH also creates a data compensation scheme for entities that must rely upon studies generated by another entity to complete their registration for a particular chemical substance. The webinar will review pertinent REACH registration provisions within the broader construct of the REACH program and focus on REACH's data compensation and data sharing procedures. The presenters will compare and contrast REACH's data compensation principles with how similar issues are addressed in the context of U.S. Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) data compensation arbitrations, practices, and protocols. Registration for the webinar is available online.

The webinar features data compensation experts on both sides of the Atlantic: Lynn L. Bergeson, Lisa R. Burchi, and Leslie S. MacDougall, of B&C, and Ruxandra Cana, Indiana de Seze, and Michel Michaux, of Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP. Key topics that will be considered include:

• REACH vs. FIFRA: Overview of key data sharing/data compensation;
• REACH Substance Information Exchange Forum (SIEF)/Consortia data development, data sharing, data compensation, and antitrust;
• Data compensation under REACH vs. data compensation under FIFRA (focusing on publicly available studies, compensability period, study quality, historic v. replacement costs, overhead, cost allocation, inflation, risk premium, interest, rights obtained as a result of compensation, and SIEF members and consortium members);
• Dispute resolution under REACH vs. dispute resolution under FIFRA (focusing on disputes involving the European Chemicals Agency, court proceedings, arbitration, and antitrust concerns); and
• Data sharing experiences under REACH to date, including key issues, forecast, and next steps.

We are pleased to announce that Kevin N. Goulden and Leslie S. MacDougall of The Acta Group EU, Ltd (Acta EU) will address technical and regulatory issues at the June 1, 2010, Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) seminar entitled "Outstanding Issues Before the 1st December 2010 Registration Deadline." The seminar, which will be held at Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP, in Brussels, Belgium, will address questions related to the December 1, 2010, registration deadline, on issues such as recent documents from the European Chemicals Agency/European Commission/Caracal meetings; submission of registration dossiers; Substance Information Exchange Forums/consortia-related issues; and classification and labeling. Participation in the seminar is free. The agenda is available online. Registrations are due May 27, 2010, and should be sent to brusselsevents@ffw.com.