All Knowledge & Insights By Date

By Lynn L. Bergeson On October 30, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a statement by FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., and FDA Deputy Commissioner Anna Abram regarding FDA’s new action plan to advance plant and animal biotechnology innovation.  Aimed at ensuring the safety of plant and animal biotechnology products and avoiding unnecessary barriers to future innovation, the Action Plan focuses on three key priorities: Advancing public health by promoting...

Ames Tribune, “Dept. of Energy Grant Helps Fund Iowa State’s Biobased Chemical Study” Chemistry World, “Waste Vegetable Oil Turned into Valuable Chemicals for Drugs and Plastics” The Hill, “Oil Industry:  Voters Worried about Trump’s Ethanol Plan” The Hill, “New Technologies Can Turn Timber Abundance into Sustainable Solutions” Phys.org, “Growing Algae More Sustainably for Biofuel Production” Automotive World,...

In the Trump Administration’s Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Regulatory Agenda) issued on October 17, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a Proposed Rule Stage item titled “Update to the Hazard Communication Standard,” RIN 1218-AC93, and scheduled the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to be issued by March 2019. The full description of the item is: OSHA and other U.S. agencies have been...

B&C Launches All Things Chemical™ Podcast: Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) is pleased to announce the launch of All Things Chemical™, a podcast engaging listeners in intelligent, insightful conversation about everything related to industrial, pesticidal, and specialty chemicals and the law and business issues surrounding chemicals. B&C’s talented team of lawyers, scientists, and consultants will keep listeners abreast of the changing world of both domestic and...

Washington, D.C. (November 1, 2018):  Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) is launching a podcast today.  It is called All Things Chemical™ and it will engage listeners in intelligent, insightful conversation about everything related to industrial, pesticidal, and specialty chemicals and the law and business issues surrounding chemicals. B&C’s talented team of lawyers, scientists, and consultants will keep listeners abreast of the changing world of both domestic...

The European Commission (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) posted a report on the October 5-6, 2017, “NanoReg2 Regulatory Preparedness for Innovation in Nanotechnology Workshop.”  Regulatory preparedness was defined at the workshop as the regulators’ timely awareness of innovations and the regulators’ actions to check whether present legislation covers all safety aspects of each innovation, including initiating revision of the legislation as appropriate.  Achieving...

Download transcript. 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...

The European Commission (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) announced publication of a paper introducing a new standardized testing procedure for nanomaterial environmental toxicity, “Introducing a new standardized nanomaterial environmental toxicity screening testing procedure, ISO/TS 20787:  aquatic toxicity assessment of manufactured nanomaterials in saltwater lakes using Artemia sp. nauplii.”  The abstract states that the testing procedure is intended to generate more reliable and...

In August 2018, Safe Work Australia (SWA) issued a national guide on classifying hazardous chemicals.  SWA intends the guidance for manufacturers and importers of substances, mixtures, and articles who have a duty under the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act and Regulations to classify them.  SWA suggests that the guidance may also be useful for suppliers, persons undertaking business and undertakings, workers, and other persons involved with hazardous chemicals.  The guidance...