HCF Called for Regulatory Convergen
The Second Global Helsinki Chemicals Forum 20-21 May 2010
Helsinki, 21 May 2010 – The two-day, second global Helsinki Chemicals Forum (HCF) turned out to be a great success, gathering about 240 key stakeholders from about 30 countries to debate and seek solutions to a range of questions related to chemicals.
The topic which triggered the most intensive debate was the question concerning the harmonisation of chemicals regulation globally. “REACH is already the reference for chemicals management systems worldwide”, said Jukka Malm, Director of Assessment at the European Chemicals Agency. “Companies work on REACH globally – tools, experiences, and data are of benefit for all. REACH information is OECD compatible, and contributes to global chemicals management tools.”
Majority of speakers called for regulatory convergence. The chemical industry in countries like Brazil, China, and India is growing very fast, and they may pass the volume of traditional chemical producers of the EU and USA in this decade. This further emphasises the need for common rules. In case of the least developed countries, where regulations in this field are often non-existent, the challenge of harmonisation is immense and will take years to achieve. Khalida Bouzar, Director at UNEP, underlined that new chemicals recommendations such as the UN's Globally Harmonised Systems (GHS) for classification and labelling of dangerous chemicals provide good models for emergenging economies to implement modern legislation. The year 2020 is the target year to reach Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) under UNEP. Also, OECD initiatives form a basis for burden-sharing.
Regarding competitiveness of the industry, Martin Evans of JPMorgan Cazenove pointed out that investors are not interested in what kind of regulation prevails, as long as it works i.e. provides a stable business environment.
In various parts of the world regulation has indeed enhance green innovation, which is crucial for societal acceptance. In addition, as Jerker Lighthart of International Chemicals Secretariat pointed out, green chemistry makes perfect business sense: From the EU's point of view it can minimise the effect of falling behind of emerging economies. Furthermore, if risks are minimised, there will be less cost for risk management actions at the numerous stages down the supply chain.
The entire event was recorded and can be viewed at the HCF website – www.helsinkichemforum.eu – as from Monday, 24 May. The presentations and a summary report including the highlights and conclusions of the discussions will be placed there also.
The third global Helsinki Chemicals Forum will be held on 19-20 May next year. HCF is well on the way of developing into an established brand as the key international platform of action and forward-looking debate on chemicals, drawing from the position of Helsinki as a global hub for actors in the field which are clustering around the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).
For further information:
Hannu Vornamo, Secretary General,
Tel: +358-40-500 4785, E-mail: hannu.vornamo(a)helsinkicf.eu ;
Annemaria Ojanperä, Communications Manager,
Tel: +358-40-039 1525, E-mail: annemaria.ojanpera(a)helsinkicf.eu
