This week, we offer something a little different. My colleague Christopher Bryant, a senior regulatory consultant here at the firm, invited Daniella Taveau and Daniel Pearson into our studio to sit down and talk about trade issues. As you will hear, their conversation ranged far and wide, hitting upon all aspects of the trade discussion which might be relevant to anyone working in the chemical manufacturing space. Listeners will hear about developing a historical context in...
This week, I sat down with my colleague Sheryl Dolan, a senior regulatory consultant here at Bergeson & Campbell, to discuss all things pesticides: past, present, and future. In our discussion, Sheryl provides the historical and legal/regulatory background necessary to understand the current state of pesticide regulation, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) manages under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA, as we like to call it. Among other...
Recently, the European Commission kicked-off a process to evaluate and likely revise the current EU Food Contact Materials (FCM) legislation. Now, this is a big deal for any stakeholders in this space—domestic or European — considering that the current legislation has been in in-place for many years and the proliferation of national standards has greatly complicated an already complex area. That is why I was excited when Renato Addis, of the Brussels-based regulatory consulting firm...
This week, I took part in a roundtable discussion about biobased products with my colleagues Kathleen Roberts and Dr. Rich Engler. Over the last several years, there has been a significant trend towards the use of renewable, bio-based chemicals. Although these chemicals often have similar, if not identical, functionalities as the non-renewable, fossil-based chemical that they are intended to replace, there are a number of regulatory challenges in bringing these to market. In this conversation,...
This week, I sat down with Karin Baron, a senior regulatory consultant here at Bergeson & Campbell and all around expert on chemical product labeling to discuss recent developments pertinent to the United States Hazard Communication Standard (HCS). These regulatory developments have been proposed to bring the HCS more in line with GHS, the Global Hazard Communication Standard. Karin unpacks this complex but really important area of the law and focuses on the aspirational and...
Recently, we published a 3 part article with Bloomberg News entitled: New Chemicals Under New TSCA—Stalled Commercialization. This week, I sat down with Charles Auer, a Senior Regulatory and Policy advisor here at the firm, and Dr. Richard Engler, our Director of Chemistry, two of my co-authors on this article to talk about it. Our thesis is simple: EPA’s interpretation of our brand new industrial chemical law, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century...
This week, I sat down with Dr. Richard Engler, our Director of Chemistry, to discuss Confidential Business Information (CBI). CBI is both a term of art under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and can be understood broadly to be anything from trade secrets to you know, the secret sauce of a chemical formulation that makes a product profitable. In our conversation, we focused on how this concept of CBI functions under TSCA and how...
This week, I sat down with Michael Wenk, one of our senior regulatory consultants, to discuss his new book Chemical Regulation in the Middle East. Michael’s book focuses on eight countries in the Middle East that have a combination of well developed and emerging chemical regulatory schemes. His book provides a comprehensive examination of the main chemical management laws in force for each particular country, and summarizes general trends and issues facing the region as...
This week, I got to have a roundtable discussion with several of my colleagues about a Strategic Research Plan released by the EPA earlier this summer, outlining their approach to reduce and replace “vertebrate” testing. What we’re really talking about, of course, is animal testing. In keeping with the commitment outlined in 2016’s Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the EPA proposes several so-called New Approach Methodologies, or NAMs, which they hope will be able to...
Hi, this is Lynn Bergeson of Bergeson & Campbell in Washington, D.C. I’m here to announce that we have launched a podcast. It’s called All Things Chemical. And whether you are a lawyer in the chemical space, a scientist or a manager, or a CEO of a Fortune 50 chemical company, you will want to listen up. Starting November 1st we will be releasing a podcast every other week. We’re going to be dealing with...